The official website for Minoru Kawasaki's Executive Koala (Koara kachô) is now online, although at present it's just a home page. The movie premièred at the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival (LVHIFF) in Honolulu on October 28th. Tornado Film K.K. (K.K. Torunêdo Firumu) is set to release it theatrically in Japan next year.
The screenplay for Executive Koala was written by Kawasaki and Masakazu Migita, based on a story by the former. The movie's cast includes Hironobu Nomura, Elli-Rose (Erirôzu; a.k.a. Ellirose), Ho Lee (I Ho), Eiichi Kikuchi, Arthur Kuroda (Kuroda Âsâ), Hideki Saijô, Ryû Hariken, Megumi Yamanaka, Hitomi Takashima, and Chika Kumada.
Here's a synopsis for Executive Koala from this page for the movie on the LVHIFF website: "Tamura is an average divorced salaryman in Japan - and also a man-sized, suit-and-tie wearing, upright-walking koala bear. Though not a human being, he's a successful businessman with ventures overseas who refuses to play office politics. He hopes to marry his girlfriend, Yoko, and raise a child. His visions are of an ordinary life with an ordinary company until his ordinary retirement. But when his girlfriend turns up dead one morning, the police finger the Executive Koala as their prime suspect. Temura runs from Detective Ono and fights to prove his innocence. Tamura wants to know why there are gaps in his memory. Is he a murderer? Does he have multiple personalities? And what does his bartender (the frog) and his boss (the rabbit) know about the two-hundred year old terrifying secret behind the EXECUTIVE KOALA?"
Kawasaki's previous directing credits include Kabuto-O Beetle (Kabuto-Ô Bîtoru) and The Calamari Wrestler (Ika resurâ). Twitch, in association with GOMORRAHY.com, is now providing downloadable trailers for both of these movies.
Executive Koala official website
Kabuto-O Beetle trailer (downloadable 4.1 MB WMV file)
Kabuto-O Beetle official website
Twitch: Third article on Kabuto-O Beetle
The Calamari Wrestler trailer (downloadable 6.5 MB WMV file)
Twitch: Review of The Calamari Wrestler
GOMORRAHY.com: J-sploitation subsite
That is the single greatest synopsis I have ever read.
Absolute genius.
Holy crap ... this man is out of his mind ...
I watched the amazing EXECUTIVE KOALA in Honolulu. It's all about a human sized Koala Bear (played by someone in a furry suit with a big round furry Koala bear head) who works as a salaryman at a pickle factory in Tokyo and who advocates a strategic partnership with a Korean kim chi company. At one point he takes the visiting Korean execs around Tokyo to check out the kim chi quality. By the way, he's also being investigated by a suspicious cop for the murder of a woman, and is plagued by nightmares of spousal abuse that oddly resemble horror and wimpy S & M movies. Naturally he's in therapy.
Some other highlights: his boss is a big bunny rabbit, and he's served in Lawson's (a Japanese 7-11) by a human-sized frog. I should add that the Koala bear, bunny rabbit and frog all wear suits or normal clothes, and the rest of the characters are all human who do not seem to think it odd that there are giant size furry animals in their midst. In fact some of the office girls thing Koala Bear is hot.
There are some amazing plot twists in this movie which I am not going to reveal. All I will say is that some of the plot is explained through sequences of Korean martial arts and a Brechtian theatrical musical number.
This might be the Japanese version of HOWARD THE DUCK but without the anally retentive Lucasian aesthetic and way improved (man, George needs therapy or he needs to see this movie…
I accidentally bumped into the director (Minoru Kawasaki) at lunch and he was sitting with a bald headed mild mannered man who spoke some English. Of course he claimed to be the actor who played the Koala Bear. I'm sure this was true but since his performance in the film is masked by the big furry head, it could have been anyone...
All I can say is: Long Live Freud, and bring on the Bears!
omg this movie looks so gay none would eva hire a koala as an executive u massive loser !!!doi
Hopefully this movie turns up at some Australia movie festivals soon as it would go down well in the late night screenings.
Dear mr Koala,
This story board is not finich yet !
More ? contact : Jean Pierre Cornu Consulting cration
Nantes France copyright *2007
All the best
Is there going to be a North American DVD release??
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