Cheers from Heaven

天国からのエール (Tengoku kara no eru)

When “bento” (lunch box) shop owner Hikaru (Hiroshi Abe) learns that a group of local high school students have no place to practice music, he decides to build a studio beneath his store allowing them to play there for free. The students begin to grow fond of Hikaru but still know little of his terminal illness which Hikaru has been battling and keeping secret from his family and friends.

Set in the coastal town of Motobu-cho, Okinawa, this film depicts the incredible true story of Hikaru Nakasone, a man who devoted the last days of his life to helping youngsters who felt as if they had nowhere to go. In similar fashion to Kurosawa’s Ikiru, this inspiring account tells the positive and unmeasurable effect one ordinary man can have on so many individuals’ lives.

沖縄で起きた実話を基にした映画。小さな弁当屋を営む陽は、弁当を買いに来る高校生たちのために、店のガレージを音楽スタジオへと改造する。スタジオを無料で開放することと引き換えに陽が学生に対して示した条件は3つ。あいさつをすること、赤点は絶対に取らないこと、人の痛みが分かる人間になること。彼らの成長を支え続けた陽だったが、やがてがんを発症してしまう。

監督: 熊澤誓人
出演: 阿部寛、ミムラ、桜庭ななみ

Distributor: Asmik Ace