sf indiefest

Roxie Cinema    2/10/2007    7PM

                          2/12/2007    9:30PM

California Theater-Berkeley    2/15/2007    7PM

US Premiere

To those of us familiar with Kumakiri Kazuyoshi’s controversial body-of-work (HoleHead’s “Kichiku dai Enkai” and IndieFest’s “Antenna”), his latest film comes (literally) out of left field: It’s a baseball movie. However, with one of the most provocative talents in new Japanese cinema behind the camera, it's not going to be a traditional sports film by any stretch of the imagination.

From the incredible opening sequence’s errant pitch to the head until the inevitable showdown between the former teammates, “Green Mind, Metal Bats” is more about the effect of the game on three psychologically wounded people, and how baseball can be a force for healing, than in the game itself.

Nanba is a shunned outcast who doesn't have a girlfriend, any money, or prospects—a turnaround from his glory days in high school when he played on the baseball team. His former teammate Ishioka used to be their ace pitcher; now he’s a policeman because of an elbow injury. Then there’s baseball fanatic Eiko, a hopeless alcoholic who spends more of her time drunk than sober. The three share an intense love of baseball—and their destinies are forever intertwined. Watch for a cameo from Wakamatsu Koji, the legendary maker of pink films such as Sex Jack (1967) and Ecstasy of Angels (1972), as the spirit of Babe Ruth.