A young Japanese tourist faces the confusing, relentless urban beat of New York, a chaos of foreign languages and love the French way.
"Maru" (2001)
In this heartwarming comedy, Bunta (Takuro Ebata), a young Japanese tourist visiting
New York City, discovers that communication in the English language is relative within
the city that never sleeps. Bunta befriends three guests at his hotel who immediately
adopt him into their makeshift casino. One is from Russia (Andrei Lazarev), another from
Spain (Mario Fornes), and the third from Brazil (Alex Cochise). Although none of them
share a common language, the four men quickly transcend the language barrier and
forge a close friendship.
Beyond the events taking place at the hotel, Bunta explores the rest of the city. He
becomes attracted to a young girl, Florence (Sophie Malleret), who luncheons daily in
the same park. She is a young French student who just recently started to learn English.
With encouragement from his three friends, Bunta gathers enough courage to finally talk
to Florence. Ironically, he finds himself totally speechless when the opportunity arises.
Bunta runs into Florence once again by chance, and the two begin communicating in a
language of their own.
"What is important is expressed in your heart rather than words"-- this universal theme
becomes the core of Bunta's experiences. Yet, when his Russian friend gets into trouble,
Bunta realizes the limitations of language or the lack thereof. Suddenly, the friendship
they had shared fades. Now Bunta is faced with the choice between the uncertain or
the unsaid.
This comedy allows its audience to experience cinema in an entirely different way.
Japanese director Toshi Wakita was strongly inspired to create a movie that would
cross all cultures and languages. He has made this possible with his feature debut "Maru".
Takuro Ebata (Bunta) Born in Japan, Takuro has studied acting at the HB Studio in
New York. He is presently working on roles in Japan where he is regarded as an aspiring
young actor.
Sophie Malleret (Florence) Born in France, Sophie studied acting in Paris, London and
New York. Currently she is an active member of three different theatre companies and has
had several film roles.
Lionel Simplice (Park cleaner) Born in Haiti, Lionel started his acting career in New
York while he was working as a model. Currently, he focuses on acting in independent
films and writing his own project.
FILMMAKERS
Joon Kim (Cinematographer) Born in Korea, Kim studied filmmaking at the School of
Visual Arts in New York City. His visual artistry has lead him to a directorial career at a major
Film Studio in Korea known for box office hits such as "Shiri."
Geoph Frey (Producer) Born in Switzerland, Geoph studied filmmaking in New York
and started his company "Generation 21 Productions" to help further the dreams of one
by connecting them to an always growing network of talent.
Toshi Wakita (Writer, Director, Producer) Born in Japan in 1971, Toshi first worked to
develop his unique style of humor creating comics. Over the years he found his passion
for motion pictures and in 1994 he enrolled at the School of Visual Arts to further his craft
as a filmmaker. This afforded him the chance to direct 5 short films in NY, of which "Three
Hurdles" won official selection of Max Ophuls Film Festival in 1999. "Maru" is Wakita's first
feature film. Toshi is currently developing 4 feature projects.