In Harari-cho, a small and quiet bayside town by the sea, the firemen have not seen a fire for nearly twenty years. Each day passes eventlessly... until one day. The monotony of their daily lives is interrupted by the appearance of a beautiful female college student, Momoko, who comes to visit her aunt. After catching a glimpse of Momoko, both Tatsuya and Nobuyuki can't stop thinking about her. Since then, the small town is not so quiet anymore…
Acting
Takenaka's desperate energy as a man who peaked at the fire academy.
Cinematography
The sea as silent witness to male mediocrity.
Writing
Dialogue so awkward it physically hurts.
Director
Naoto Takenaka
Hidekazu Akai
Nobuyuki Ishii
Kyoka Suzuki
Momoko Hibino
Naoto Takenaka
Tatsuya Tsuda
Shinya Tsukamoto
Masaaki Tomita
Yoichi Nukumizu
Yuichi Nakae
Tadanobu Asano
Satoshi Matsushita
Ryo Iwamatsu
Member of Main Station
Kanji Tsuda
Hiroshi Morishita
Natsuo Ishido
Yoji Tanaka
Hiroyuki Sanada
Jōji Matsuoka
Kazuyoshi Okuyama
Nene Otsuka
Masayuki Suō
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Naoto Takenaka cast himself as the lead despite being primarily known as a comedian— this was his directorial statement on midlife crisis.
The '119' title refers to Japan's emergency number, emphasizing these firefighters exist only as symbols of unneeded heroism.
JP
