Free Stone Productions Co,Ltd.

JOINT

Oudai Kojima, a new talent of the Japanese film noirs, depicts the real Japanese crime scene of the day.

STORY

After serving 2 years in prison, mid-level criminal Ishigami Takeshi returns to Tokyo with the help of Yasu, his best friend. Partnering up with his Korean friend Junghi, he starts a business selling data for phone fraud to his Yakuza friend Yuki, a member of the largest Yakuza group "Oshima Clan". Takeshi uses ties with ad agencies for client data, and Junghi extracts data from old smartphones. Combining the two, Takeshi manages to create a database with dense and accurate personal information, perfect for scamming. As the business grows, Yasu persuades Takeshi into investing in startup businesses as a way out of the crime world. Takeshi invests in a "big data" IT company called TRITON and uses the mass data he acquired illegally for legit purposes. TRITON grows as a business and Takeshi cuts ties with Junghi. Out of work, Junghi teams with an international crime organization called "RYUDO" who seeks a business partnership with the Oshima Clan. Meanwhile in the Yakuza
world, tension builds as the excommunicated faction of the Oshima Clan groups up as the Ichikawa clan. The two clans clash and Takeshi and Yuki are thrown in between. Takeshi tries to stay away but he is bought out from the startup business, and Yuki's clan is attacked by the Ichikawa clan. Junghi and RYUDO team up with Takeshi to bring down the new Ichikawa Clan and bring peace to the Yakuza war but RYUDO seems to have another plan in place. As the story approaches the climax, Takeshi faces a choice he cannot undo of how he should live his life; as a mid-level criminal, as a yakuza, or something else that only his heart leads.

Director: Oudai KOJIMA (小島央大)
Cast: Ikken YAMAMOTO (山本一賢)
Crime Drama/2020/Color/114min
Japanese title: JOINT
Japanese Theatrical Release: November 20, 2021

Film Festivals
- Osaka Asian Film Festival (2021)
- New York Asian Film Festival (2021)
- Camera Japan (2022)