Coming Soon
HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND
1986
Director
Nobuhiko Obayashi
Starring
Riki Takeuchi
Kiwako Harada
Noriko Watanabe
Tomokazu Miura
Runtime
90 minutes
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Retro-fitted with leather jackets, motorcycles, and a rebellious spirit, this endlessly swoon-worthy ode to forbidden young love traces biker-gang member Ko’s newfound romance with Miyo, the defiant sister of a rival. But as Miyo becomes a biking superstar herself, Ko begins to view her as his masculine rival. She is just as thrilled by the revving of an engine and the risk of death as she is by the promise of romantic love.
With his beloved Kawasaki and Levi jeans, Ko harkens back to classic icons of Americana like James Dean in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE or Marlon Brando in THE WILD ONE. But director Obayashi’s playful experimentation with form feels more of a piece with something like Godard’s PIERROT LE FOU. One of the true gems of Obayashi’s ‘80s filmography, HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND is a soaringly avant-garde outlaw romance and a loving homage to American biker culture, collecting the detritus of everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Kenneth Anger along the highway.
“An absolutely phenomenal film about the things we like to remember and the things we can't help but forget. Time and memory, the past and present, dream and reality flowing in and out of each other, flirting at the edges, eventually sharing the same frame. Every time I watch a new Obayashi film I feel invigorated, like I have this fresh love for the medium. I don't think we deserve a filmmaker as good as him.” - Esther Rosenfield
“A teenage symphony to God. The movie respirates with color and youth, equal parts steamy and moving. HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND is Obayashi’s peak.” - Kyle Gardner
With his beloved Kawasaki and Levi jeans, Ko harkens back to classic icons of Americana like James Dean in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE or Marlon Brando in THE WILD ONE. But director Obayashi’s playful experimentation with form feels more of a piece with something like Godard’s PIERROT LE FOU. One of the true gems of Obayashi’s ‘80s filmography, HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND is a soaringly avant-garde outlaw romance and a loving homage to American biker culture, collecting the detritus of everyone from Bruce Springsteen to Kenneth Anger along the highway.
“An absolutely phenomenal film about the things we like to remember and the things we can't help but forget. Time and memory, the past and present, dream and reality flowing in and out of each other, flirting at the edges, eventually sharing the same frame. Every time I watch a new Obayashi film I feel invigorated, like I have this fresh love for the medium. I don't think we deserve a filmmaker as good as him.” - Esther Rosenfield
“A teenage symphony to God. The movie respirates with color and youth, equal parts steamy and moving. HIS MOTORBIKE, HER ISLAND is Obayashi’s peak.” - Kyle Gardner