is a 2017 Japanese two-part drama film based on arthouse screenwriter Shūji Terayama's one and only full length novel, Aa Koya, published in 1966. Directed by Yoshiyuki Kishi, it stars Masaki Suda and Yang Ik-june. It premiered in A Window on Asian Cinema at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival.
Plot Two "losers" meet by chance when they decide to join a rundown boxing gym by half-blind trainer Horiguchi (Yūsuke Santamaria). Ex-convict Shinji (Masaki Suda), whose father's suicide death impacts his mental health and outward aggressiveness, has just been released from a juvenile detention centre and is out to take revenge on Yuji Yamamoto (Yūki Yamada) who betrayed him and has since become a boxer. Kenji (Yang Ik-june), a mild-mannered half-Korean-half-Japanese barber, is extremely shy and stutters due to a traumatic past with his abusive father. They form an unlikely friendship as they journey their way to become professional boxers and a way back into an unforgiving society.
Cast Masaki Suda as Shinji Sawamura Yang Ik-june as Kenji Yūsuke Santamaria as Horiguchi Yūki Yamada as Yuji Yamamoto Akari Kinoshita as Yoshiko Sone Anna Konno as Keiko Nishiguchi Kou Maehara as Keizo Kawasaki Tae Kimura as Kyoko Kimizuka
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Recipient Result 2017 60th Blue Ribbon Awards Best Film Wilderness Best ActorMasaki Suda 42nd Hochi Film AwardBest ActorMasaki Suda 30th Nikkan Sports Film AwardBest ActorMasaki Suda 201891st Kinema Junpo AwardBest ActorMasaki Suda Best Supporting ActorYang Ik-june 41st Japan Academy Prize Best Actor Masaki Suda 12th Asian Film Awards Best Supporting Actor Yang Ik-june 72nd Mainichi Film AwardsBest ActorMasaki Suda 13th Osaka Cinema FestivalBest ActorMasaki Suda 27th Tokyo Sports Film AwardBest ActorMasaki Suda
References
External links
Wilderness Part 1 at JFDB Wilderness Part 2 at JFDB