A Japanese teenager finds his life is becoming a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions in this drama from director Fujiro Mitsuishi. Yukio (Naoyuki Morita) has been out of sorts since the death of his father, and he becomes even more distraught when his mother takes up with a long-lost uncle (Ittoku Kishibe) who Yukio is supposed to regard as his new dad. One of Yukio's teachers gives the boy a copy of Hamlet, hoping he might find parallels to his own life in the tale of the Danish prince, but Shakespeare's text only causes his anger to becomes sharper and more focused. Yukio also sees that their unhappy new home is having an even stronger impact on his siblings; little brother Hasanori (Kanpei Hazama) begins dabbling in transvestitism, and older brother Masashi (Masahiro Hisano) seeks comfort in the arms of a woman several years his senior. Adapted from a manga by Hiromi Morishita, Osaka hamureto (aka Osaka Hamlet) was an official selection at the 2008 Tokyo Film Festival.
by Mark Deming
synopsis
