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Hana and Alice

Hana & Alice
Hanaandaliceposter.jpg
Directed by Shunji Iwai
Produced by Shunji Iwai
Screenplay by Shunji Iwai
Starring
Music by Shunji Iwai
Cinematography Noboru Shinoda
Production
companies
Rockwell Eyes
Distributed by Toho
Release date
  • March 13, 2004 (2004-03-13)
Running time
135 minutes
Country Japan

Hana and Alice (花とアリス, Hana to Arisu?) is a 2004 Japanese teen romance film by director Shunji Iwai. The film, shot on HD digital video by the director of photography, Noboru Shinoda, who shared a longstanding working relationship with Shunji Iwai, concerns the life of two girls, the titular Hana (Anne Suzuki) and Alice (Yû Aoi), and the stress placed on their friendship as they move into high school.

Originally shot as a series of short films for the 30th anniversary of Kit Kat in Japan, it was later expanded into a feature film by Iwai and received theatrical release in Japan in 2004. It moved into theaters in other Asian territories later in 2004 and 2005, and into western film festivals, such as New York Asian Film Festival and Seattle International Film Festival.

When Alice develops a crush on a stranger at the train station, she offers her best friend, Hana, the stranger's "half brother," Masashi. Hana declines, but after watching Masashi from a distance, she develops feelings for him. She stalks him by traveling on his regular train throughout the winter.

During the spring, Hana and Alice enroll at Masashi's high school. Hana learns that Masashi is a member of the story-telling club, which prompts her to join as a member. As she continues to track him secretly, she witnesses him crash into a garage door, which leaves him unconscious. As he awakes, he finds Hana leaning over him. She reveals that a blow to Masashi's head has given him a case of amnesia and that she is his girlfriend. Hana and Masashi soon hang out as a couple while she continues deceiving him about their relationship. Alice becomes involved with Hana's lies by pretending she is Masashi's ex-girlfriend.


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