Summer Vacation 1999


Summer Vacation 1999 is a 1988 Japanese romantic drama film directed by Shusuke Kaneko and based on the shōjo manga Thomas no Shinzō written by Moto Hagio, about four boys at a boarding school. Although the manga concerns homoerotic relationships among the boys, director Kaneko used girls, aged 14 to 16, to portray the boys in the film.

Plot

Four boys are spending summer vacation by themselves at a remote boarding school. In an introductory sequence, the boy Yu is shown jumping off a cliff in a presumed suicide over his unrequited love for another of the boys, Kazuhiko. During the vacation period, a new boy, Kaoru, arrives. He looks just like Yu but insists he has no connection to him. The other boys, Naoto and Norio, are also attracted to Kazuhiko, who finds himself fascinated by Kaoru.

Cast

Summer Vacation 1999 was released theatrically in Japan by Shochiku on March 26, 1988. It was shown as part of the New Directors/New Films Festival at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in March 1989. The film was also later screened at the 2001 Dutch Transgender Film Festival. In March 2014, Summer Vacation 1999 was part of the program honoring film critic Donald Richie at the Japan Society of New York.

Reception

At the 10th Yokohama Film Festival in 1989, the film was ranked number 8 in the Best 10 Films of the year. At the same festival, director Shusuke Kaneko won the Best Director award for his work on this film and his other 1988 entry Last Cabaret, and Kenji Takama was given the award for Best Cinematography. The film was also nominated for the Best Editing Award at the 12th Japan Academy Prize.