Sayoko rents out cats. Every day she walks along the banks of the river towing her animals in a little handcart, with a parasol to shade her against the heat and a megaphone over her mouth: ‘Cats for rent! Are you lonely? Why not rent a cat?’ A wonderful idea, thinks one old lady, for if I were to buy a cat at my age she would certainly outlive me … Delighted to, intones a father, for a cat won’t mind if I smell like an old man … Oh, yes, chimes in an employee at a car rental company, I really am all alone … Sayoko’s cat rental helps lonely people fill the emptiness in their hearts. But Sayoko too is lonely; ever since her grandmother’s death she has lived with the cats in an overgrown haven in the midst of the big city where all she hears – apart from the cats meowing – are her eccentric neighbour’s insults. One day, a young man turns up from Sayoko’s past. He follows her home and all at once Sayoko’s life seems to fall apart . –Berlinale
Ogigami Naoko was born in 1972 in Japan. After she graduated from Chiba University, she went to the United States in 1994 to study film at the graduate school of University of Southern California, school of Cinema-Television. She went back to Japan in 2000 and began making a movie there. She received attention for her directorial debut [Yoshino’s Barber Shop] (2003), which received a Special Mention at the Kinderfilmfest in the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. Her third film, [Kamome Diner] (2006) has been very successful both domestically and internationally. Her fourth film, [Glasses] (2007) received Manfred Salzgeber Award of the Berlin Film Festival. Her latest film [Toilet] (2010) made in Toronto, Canada, is her first English language film. —asianfilmmarket.org
Come on, it's Mikako Ichikawa on a lead role. How many times do you get that? http://www.yam-mag.com/reviews/film-reviews/rent-a-cat/ Gotta take your chances.
rent aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa neko....rent aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa neko.....neko neko....