Popran
ポプラン | Japan | 2022
U.S. Premiere
Japan | Drama | 2022 | 96 minutes | in Japanese w/English subtitles
Director: Shinichiro Ueda
Starring: Yoji Minagawa
Film Source: Pony Canyon
Japan Cinema Showcase special Emcee: Mark Schilling, author/critic of Japan Times
SYNOPSIS
Absurd and funny with a dash of cringe: POPRAN is here to make its hilarious U.S. debut! Meet Tatsuya Tagami, an arrogant man down on his luck after making a name for himself within the manga world. When Tagami's genitals unexpectedly disappear with a mind of their own, he's given 6 days to recapture his "thing." POPRAN will keep the crowds laughing and guessing at the film's inventive gags, twists, and much more.
“As Tagami, actor Yoji Minagawa gives quite an entertaining and solid performance.… his ability to balance extremes, see-sawing between laugh-out-loud moments and family drama, especially when the main character sees his parents again after having avoided them for ten years. Thanks to its ensemble and its humor, Ueda manages to direct a movie which not only has its particular brand of comedy to offer, but also has a lot of character and soul, a concept surely lacking in many mainstream productions nowadays.”—Rouven Linnarz, asianmoviepulse.com
STILL GALLERY
TRAILER
DIRECTOR
Shinichiro Ueda
Born in Shiga Prefecture in 1984, Ueda Shinichiro began making films with a Handycam while still in junior high school. In 2009, at age 25, he formed the film production cooperative PANPOKOPINA. He made his commercial debut in 2015 with a segment of “Neko bun no 4”
, a cot-themed omnibus film. His breakout, however, was the 2018 zombie comedy “One Cut of the Dead”. After screening at the 2018 Udine FEFF, the film became a smash hit in Japan, earning more than 1,000 times its US $30,000 budget. He has followed up with other self-scripted comedies, most recently with this year’s “Popran”.