Ping pong (2002)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Movie
Original title Ping pong
Country of production Japan
original language Japanese
Publishing year 2002
length 114 minutes
Rod
Director Fumihiko Sori
script Kankurō Kudō
production Shinji Ogawa ,
Sanae Suzuki ,
Tamotsu Shiina
music Takkyu Ishino
camera Akira Sako
cut Soichi Ueno
occupation

Ping Pong ( Japanese ピ ン ポ ン , Pin Pon ) is a Japanese film from 2002 . The film adaptation of the manga Ping Pong was directed by Fumihiko Sori and acts like the template of young table tennis players. The two protagonists meet tough opponents for the first time and the different motivations for sport are highlighted. Shidō Nakamura received a Japanese Academy Award in 2003 for his role as tennis player Dragon .

action

Yutaka “Peco” Hoshino and Makoto “Smile” Tsukimoto are best friends and both are members of the Katase High School tennis club. Peco is enthusiastic about the sport and wants to become one of the best players in the world one day, while Smile is cautious and only plays for joy. Smile got his nickname because he never smiles. Compared to Peco, he has the greater talent, but often lets others win out of consideration. When Peco learns that the neighboring Tsujidō High School has brought the player Wenga Kon into their table tennis team, they secretly visit the school. By chance there is a game between Pecos and "China", as Wenga Kon is called, in which Peco is clearly defeated.

China was brought to the Tsujidō to defeat the famous player Ryūichi "Dragon" Kazama of the Kaiō high school. His teammate is Manabu Sakuma, called "Akuma", with whom Peco and Smile played in the primary school and in the small table tennis hall Tamura in the neighborhood. At the next tournament all five will meet. Peco is beaten by Akuma and Smile lets China win. The tournament was won by the Kaiō High School, led by Dragon.

After the tournament, Akuma Peco responds to his bad game and Peco can finally muster up new courage. He trains in the Tamura table tennis hall with the help of the old Obaba who runs the hall. In the next tournament he can defeat China. In the semifinals he can survive against Dragon despite an injured knee. In this game, Dragon experiences for the first time the joy that table tennis can make. In the final, Peco and Smile meet. Finally, Peco wins this game too. Years later, Peco's dream came true and he plays as a professional in Europe while Smile works as a table tennis trainer.

Production and publication

The film was produced by Asmik Ace Entertainment with Shinji Ogawa , Sanae Suzuki and Tamotsu Shiina . The screenplay was written by Kankurō Kudō and directed by Fumihiko Sori . Akira Sakō was responsible for the camera work and Soichi Ueno for the editing. The balls that fly over the tables in the tournaments were created by computer animation and subsequently inserted into the pictures, some of the scenes were created entirely on the computer. The plot of the original can largely be found in the film, the detailed character drawings have been reduced and the film concentrates on the competitions.

The film premiered on July 20 in Japan. In 2003 it was shown at the Philadelphia International Film Festival in the USA, in 2004 at the Febio Film Festival in the Czech Republic and in 2007 in New York. A DVD release happened in the UK and the Netherlands.

reception

Ping Pong was nominated eight times for the Japanese Academy Award in 2003 . Shidō Nakamura won the Best Young Actor Award for his role as Dragon .

The German magazine AnimaniA praised the film as one of the most successful implementations of a manga series to date, independent and yet essentially true to the original. It is not, as in the original, a human drama in the foreground. Instead, the film is a “dynamic, fast work” that delivers “unbelievable tracking shots and fascinating images” with the scenes created on the computer . The actors portrayed the characters convincingly and the soundtrack “dominated by club sound” goes well with the rhythm of the ping-pong games.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b AnimaniA 05/2003, p. 58.

Web links