Fish Story (Fisshu sutori) (2009)

100% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
88% of users liked it
(412 ratings)

A rare single by an obscure rock band makes a strange voyage through time in this witty and original science fiction tale from Japanese filmmaker Yoshihiro Nakamura. In 1975, an obscure rock band called Gekirin record a song called "Fish Story" that anticipates the aggressive, rebellious sound of… More A rare single by an obscure rock band makes a strange voyage through time in this witty and original science fiction tale from Japanese filmmaker Yoshihiro Nakamura. In 1975, an obscure rock band called Gekirin record a song called "Fish Story" that anticipates the aggressive, rebellious sound of punk rock that's just beginning to make itself heard in New York and London. The band breaks up shortly after "Fish Story" is released thanks to record company interference, but the song has a strange ongoing life over the years, and in this film we jump back and forth between decades as the recording plays a role in several seemingly unrelated scenarios -- a member of the hospitality staff on an ocean liner (Mirai Moriyama) who wins the heart of a beautiful girl while battling pirates; Masaru (Dakaku Hama) and his buddies look for women on a lonely and boring evening; a meteor heads towards Earth while a strange man in a record store lectures those around him about the impending destruction of the Earth; and how Gekirin came to write their song of songs. Fish Story (aka Fisshu Sutori) received its North American premiere at the 2009 New York Asian Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 52 min.
Directed By: Yoshihiro Nakamura
Written By: Kotaro Isaka, Tamio Hayashi
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

On DVD: Dec 27, 2011
Studio: Amuse Soft Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
With a lively tone and an intricately plotted multi-strand story, this Japanese drama holds our attention using humour, drama and an end-of-the-world scenario. It's also a thoroughly charming bit of filmmaking.
Allan Hunter, Daily Express
Hugely ambitious and oddly beguiling...
Catherine Shoard, Guardian [UK]
You can't fault it for narrative ambition, nor, in fact, for curious -- one might say fishy -- watchability.
Liz Haycroft, Little White Lies
Like the title song with its crazy lyrics, it's quirky, fun and yet slightly overlong.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
As off-puttingly quirky as it all may sound, it's held together with great confidence and a ton of energy. When the dots are finally joined, the sugar-rush of storytelling kismet is pretty exhilarating.
Kate Muir, Times [UK]
A cool, surreal film, and not a little fishy.
Tom Huddleston, Time Out
The result is a wonderfully entertaining and affecting patchwork of ideas, incidents, contrivance and coincidence.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
An impressively structured Japanese drama heightened by strong performances, a catchy theme song and an offbeat script that's laced with subtle humour.
Anton Bitel, Eye for Film
Fish Story may at first seem almost aleatoric in its structure, but this punkish chronicle of hope enduring in extremis and heroism paid forward turns out to be much more than a mere shaggy dog story.

Read all 9 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Lesley N

This one's a charmer. A Japanese punk band records a song "Fish Story" in 1975, a year before the Sex Pistols and thirty seven years later it saves the world. How? You'll understand everything crystal clear in the last five minutes, so don't worry about… More
This one's a charmer. A Japanese punk band records a song "Fish Story" in 1975, a year before the Sex Pistols and thirty seven years later it saves the world. How? You'll understand everything crystal clear in the last five minutes, so don't worry about puzzling it out beforehand, just enjoy the scenes jumping between between the 70's, 80's and 90's with characters like the unflappable music shop owner, the meek driver who can't stand up for himself, the prescient teenager, the sleepy schoolgirl and the trained-from-birth Champion of Justice. Hooray for Fish Story!.
Adam M

Great Japanese film about a punk rock song saving the world! When punk band Gekirin(Wrath, in English) are on their last legs as a band they record one final song called Fish Story. Its 1975, before The Sex Pistols put out their album and nobody had heard anything like it. Not only… More
Great Japanese film about a punk rock song saving the world! When punk band Gekirin(Wrath, in English) are on their last legs as a band they record one final song called Fish Story. Its 1975, before The Sex Pistols put out their album and nobody had heard anything like it. Not only that, as years go by there are rumours about hidden messages being heard in the song but eventually this song will start events that lead to the world being saved in 2012! Sounds mad? Well, this is Japan and what Asian cinema seems to do so well is take any story, crazy or not and make it entertaining, fun and sometimes realistic to a point. Fish Story is well made, written, acted, clever with a good ending and the song itself is pretty cool to. And hey, you never know, a song could well save the world one day!