Sake Bomb is the name of a drinking game, where you place a cup of sake on two chopsticks, over a big glass of beer and then you pull the chopsticks, the sake drops into the beer and you drink it as fast as you can. It even featured at The Brewing Art as the most intriguing combination of drinks in Western countries in the early 2010s. Inspired by this mixture of American and Japanese drink, Junya Sakino directs a comedy concerning the mixture of Asians and Americans within the USA and the tragicomical situations that arise from the coexistence of two very different cultures. Let's take a closer look though.
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Naoto is a shy and somewhat naive young man who works at a sake distillery in Japan. At some point, he inherits the business and at the same time gets a week of vacation before he takes over. He decides to travel to California, where his uncle and his cousin, Sebastian, live in order to search for his American ex girlfriend. Sebastian on the other hand, is a bitter, sarcastic and altogether infuriating guy, who spends his time uploading videos against Asian stereotypes on his blog, trying to become an Internet superstar. His girlfriend has recently kicked him out of their house, therefore he currently lives with is father, whereas he is on the lookout for a new one.
Together, they take a road trip to California, where they meet a bunch of different characters and at the same time, come to terms with who they really are and what they actually need from a relationship.
Junya Sakino, in his first feature film relies largely on the life experiences that he and his scriptwriter, Jeff Mizushima, accumulated by living and working within the US. By presenting, in a comical approach, several of the stereotypes, urban legends and issues in general, that Asians have to face once they cross the Pacific, he manages to create a film that provides entertainment as much as food for thought. Do not assume though, that he goes too far with the sociology, since Sake Bomb is an “easygoing” film, that features several of the characteristics of the American indie scene.
One of the best aspects of the production is the casting, with the two main leads, Gaku Hamada as Naoto and Eugene Kim as Sebastian, standing out particularly by maintaining a physical look that suits their individual parts perfectly. Also, in small parts, we come across Hiroyuki Watanabe (LoveDeath, Everly, Reborn from Hell) and Denden (Cold Fish, Tokyo Tribe, Cure). The rest of the actors are from different nationalities, a fact that adds to the multicultural result the director wants to offer.
Sake Bomb premiered in South by Southwest(SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas and won awards for Best Screenplay – Narrative Feature in the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and Best Narrative Feature in San Diego Asian Film Festival. UK based Third Window Films have acquired the rights for the dvd release.
