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83% Critic Match
I Want to Be a Shellfish
8.3 / 10• 2008• 2h 19m•NR• Japanese
TV MovieWarDrama
Storyline
1944, in the depths of World War II. Toyomatsu Shimizu is a completely typical barber from a remote sea-side town who lives frugally but happily with his wife Fusae and their five-year-old son. Eventually, though, the army beckons and he is drafted. One day an officer on the battle-field orders him to kill a captive U.S. soldier. Although Toyomatsu lacks the spirit to kill the man, and only wounds him in the arm, the victorious U.S. soldiers will not accept this, and Toyomatsu is arrested and tried as a war-criminal. And he receives the cruelest sentence possible...
Cast & Crew
Masahiro Nakai
Toyomatsu Shimizu
Lead
Yukie Nakama
Fusae Shimizu
Yuki Shibamoto
Toshiko
Masahiko Nishimura
Nemoto
Magi
Shokichi Sakai
TK
Tsubasa Katô
Kenichi
Tetsuya Takeda
Takeuchi
Ainosuke Kataoka
Captain Hidaka
What People Are Saying
5.0
“A staggering achievement of craft and ambition. Katsuo Fukuzawa's vision lands with breathtaking precision.”
4.0
“Every frame feels alive. I Want to Be a Shellfish is the rare release that takes its audience seriously.”
