SPECIAL SNEAK PREVIEW SCREENING followed by a Q&A session with the film’s producer, Satoru Iseki.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009. 7:00 p.m. 20th floor.

RAIN FALL.

Japan. 2009. 111 minutes. Written and directed by Max Mannix.
Based on the novel by Barry Eisler.
Produced by Megumi Fukasawa, Satoru Iseki, Tsutomu Sakurai.
Starring Kippei Shiina, Kyoko Hasegawa, Gary Oldman, Akira Emoto.

In Japanese and English with English subtitles.

Film courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan.

Ahead of the much-anticipated nationwide opening of Rain Fall on April 25, the FCCJ is offering this special sneak preview of the thriller, about a hit man who is forced to protect the daughter of one of his victims from assassination by the CIA.

Rain Fall is the first film adapted from the best-selling series of John Rain novels by American author Barry Eisler. The film is written and directed by Max Mannix, Australian screenwriter of last year's award-winning Tokyo Sonata. A cross between The Professional and the Jason Bourne series, Rain Fall is a propulsive action thriller set in contemporary Tokyo-some 35 locations are showcased, including a dramatic shootout in Yurakucho.

John Rain (Kippei Shiina) is a half-Japanese, half-American assassin who specializes in killing his victims and making it look like they died of natural causes. His latest target is a senior official at Japan's Construction Ministry who has been gathering material that could undermine the Japanese government.

William Holtzer (Gary Oldman), the director of the CIA's Asian Bureau in Tokyo, is also worried about the release of the material, and has men in place to retrieve a memory stick that the official keeps his material on. Rain's hit goes off as planned—on a crowded Tokyo subway—but when Holtzer's men move in afterward, the memory stick is missing. Rain is hired to rub out the senior official's two daughters, but Rain doesn’t kill women. When he tries to warn one of them instead, his carefully ordered world begins to unravel, and he finds himself falling in love even as he must stay one step ahead of forces out to bring them both down.

Rain Fall producer Satoru Iseki had a long career with Herald Ace before establishing Nippon Film Development and Finance (NDF) in 1989. He has also cofounded Hark & Co. and Tara Contents Inc. to develop films in Asia. Among many more titles, Iseki has produced A Battle of Wits (2006/Jacob Cheung), The World’s Fastest Indian (2005/ Roger Donaldson), The Assassin (1998/Chen Keige), Smoke (1995/Wayne Wang),　Howards End (1992/James Ivory), The Crying Game (1992/ Neil Jordan) and Shadow of China (1989/Mitsuo Yanagimachi).

Don't miss this exciting opportunity to see Rain Fall before it hits theaters!

Please make your reservations at the FCCJ Reception Desk (3211-3161) to allow for seating arrangements.

All movie screenings are private, noncommercial events restricted to FCCJ members and their guests.

Karen Severns, Edwin Karmiol. Movie Committee.