Last Letter (Japanese: ラストレター, Hepburn: Rasuto Retā) is a 2020 Japanese romantic drama film written, directed and edited by Shunji Iwai, based on his own novel. It is Iwai's second film adaptation of the novel, following the 2018 Chinese film of the same name. The film stars Takako Matsu, Suzu Hirose, Nana Mori, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Hideaki Anno and Masaharu Fukuyama.
Contents
Plot
A family attends the funeral of Misaki, and during the process, Misaki's sister Yuri, is handed the invite to a school reunion.
Yuri goes along to the reunion to tell them her sister has passed, but everyone assumes it is her and she can't bring herself to tell them otherwise.
While there, Kyoshiro Otosaka speaks to her, and gets her number, telling her that he was in love with her (assuming that she is her sister). They start exchanging letters, and it is revealed that he had a relationship with her, before it broke off and she went out with an abusive man, who fathered her daughter Ayumi. Otosoka became a novelist, and wrote a prize winning novel, Misaki, named after her.
He ends up meeting Yuri again, and then finally her daughters who take him to pay respects to Misaki, where Ayumi reveals the letters, and the chapters he would send were a source of support for Misaki during their bad times. Otosaka, who hasn't been able to write since, now feels he can and starts writing again.
Cast
Takako Matsu as Yuri Kishibeno
Nana Mori as young Yuri Kishibeno / Soyoka Kishibeno
Masaharu Fukuyama as Kyoshiro Otosaka
Ryunosuke Kamiki as young Kyoshiro Otosaka
Suzu Hirose as Ayumi Tono / young Misaki Tono
Hideaki Anno as Sojiro Kishibeno
Nagi Furuya as Eito Kishibeno
Keiko Mizukoshi as Akiko Kishibeno
Hitoshi Komura as Shojo Hatoba
Keiichi Suzuki as Kokichi Tono
Midori Kiuchi as Junko Tono
Etsushi Toyokawa as Ato
Miho Nakayama as Sakae
Release
Last Letter was theatrically released in Japan by Toho on January 17, 2020.