A Ghost of a Chance

2011 Japanese film

October 29, 2011 (2011-10-29)

Running time

142 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapaneseBox office$54.08 million^[1]

A Ghost of a Chance (ステキな金縛り, Suteki na Kanashibari, literally "Fantastic Sleep Paralysis"), also known as Once In a Blue Moon in Japan, is a 2011 Japanese comedy mystery film directed by Kōki Mitani.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Plot

Emi Hosho, a third-rate lawyer without much of a future, is tasked with defending Goro Yabe, a man arrested for the murder of his wife. Without much hope of winning, Yabe proclaims his innocence, saying that he was under sleep paralysis at the time of the murder. Emi heads to the inn where Yabe stayed and encounters the ghost of fallen samurai Rokubei Sarashina, who claims he was the one holding Yabe in sleep paralysis. Rokubei is brought to the court as a witness. However, the prosecution denies the existence of the occult, asserting that Rokubei's testimony is inadmissible in court. So begins the struggle to prove Yabe's innocence.

Cast

Eri Fukatsu - Emi Hosho (lawyer)
Toshiyuki Nishida - Rokubei Sarashina (fallen samurai)
Hiroshi Abe - Yu Hayami (lawyer)
Kiichi Nakai - Tooru Osano (prosecutor)
Yūko Takeuchi - Suzuko Yabe (murder victim), Fuuko Hino (sister of the deceased)
Tadanobu Asano - Kenichi Kido (historian, Rokubei's descendant)
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi - Teruo Hosho (Emi's father)
Fumiyo Kohinata - Jouji Danda

References

^ "Box Office Mojo". IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
^ ステキな金縛り(2010). Allcinema.net (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
^ Smith, Ian Hayden (2012). International Film Guide 2012. p. 157. ISBN 978-1908215017.
^ Edwards, Russell (3 November 2011). "A Ghost of a Chance". Variety. Retrieved 21 May 2020.