Chicken Heart

Three friends meet up every night at their favourite snack stand. All of different ages, the one thing they have in common is that they all should've got their lives together a long time ago. Iwano (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi), too insecure to steep up his modest boxing career, earns a living as the ''human punching-bag'' - letting stressed-out businessmen take out their frustrations on him at a reasonable price. Maru (Suzuki Matsuo) is a hat salesman. When family business turns bad, he starts selling toupees to bald men in the street, suddenly discovering a new talent for comedy. Sada, the oldest of the three (played by Japanese veteran rock-star Kiyoshiro Imawano), is dreaming of sailing around the world, while hiding a big secret from his best friends. Hiroshi Shimizu follows up his directorial debut Ikinai (1998) with this charming comedy drama about friendship, loyalty and the difficulties of pursuing your dreams. With beautiful cinematography, Chicken Heart is another proof that Takeshi Kitano's protege, and former assistant director, certainly deserves a career of his own. BETTINA EDLUND