Kiyoshiro Imawano is gone. Kiyoshi Kodama is gone. Yoshio Harada is gone. Some of the rockin'est, rollin'est, hottest/coolest older guys in the archipelago are no longer around to console us with their sizzling presences.
But good news for Japan in general and 60-ish-year-old Tokyo gentlemen in particular: Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami ("Where is the Friend's Home?" "Taste of Cherry," "Certified Copy") will be in Tokyo next month to hold an open audition for the male lead of his new movie, tentatively titled "The End." This is to be a passionate love story between a young woman attending a Tokyo university and a man 40-odd years her senior, and any elder Japanese gent who suits the bill can enter for an audition.
Kiarostami is looking for a man around 60 years old with verve, wit and intelligence, who can hold his own in most situations but is also capable of losing himself in a love affair with a much younger woman.