I Was a Simple Man

I Was a Simple Man is an American family drama film written and directed by Christopher Makoto Yogi.[3] The film stars Steve Iwamoto, Constance Wu, Tim Chiou and Kanoa Goo.[1]

I Was a Simple Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChristopher Makoto Yogi
Written byChristopher Makoto Yogi
Produced bySarah Kim
Starring
CinematographyEunsoo Cho
Edited byChristopher Makoto Yogi
Music by
  • Pierre Guerineau
  • Alex Zhang Hungtai
Production
companies
  • Talk Tree
  • Flies Collective
Distributed byStrand Releasing
Release date
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • Hawaiian
  • Chinese
  • Japanese
Box office$12,669[2]

The film has its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 29, 2021.[1]

Plot

As a family in Hawai'i faces the imminent death of their eldest, the ghosts of the past haunt the countryside.

— Variety[4]

Cast

The cast includes:[5]

  • Steve Iwamoto as Masao Matsuyoshi
  • Constance Wu as Grace
  • Tim Chiou as Adult Masao
  • Kanoa Goo as Gavin
  • Chanel Akiko Hirai as Kati
  • Nelson Lee as Mark
  • Hau'oli Carr as Ashley
  • Kyle Kosaki as Young Masao
  • Boonyanudh Jiyarom as Young Grace

Reception

The film won the Grand Jury Award at the San Diego Asian Film Festival.[6] It also won the Grand Jury Prize at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and the Made in Hawai‘i Award at the Hawai‘i International Film Festival.[7][8]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an 85% positive rating, while Metacritic assigned an aggregate score of 83, indicating "universal acclaim".[9] It was named the fourth best film of 2021 in the New Yorker Magazine, where film critic Richard Brody called it "one of the great films about death."[10] Roxana Hadadi wrote on RogerEbert.com that the film is a "100-minute spell of beauty and melancholy, intimate and grand in equal measure",[11] while David Ehrlich of IndieWire called it "masterful" and dubbed it a "Critics Pick".[12]

References
  1. "Sundance - FPG". Sundance. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  2. "I Was a Simple Man (2021)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  3. Ramos, Dino-Ray (January 29, 2021). "Filmmaker Christopher Makoto Yogi Visits Ghosts Of Memories Past In Familial Drama 'I Was A Simple Man' – Sundance Studio". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  4. Debruge, Peter (December 15, 2020). "Sundance Film Festival Lineup Features 38 First-Time Directors, Including Rebecca Hall and Robin Wright". Variety. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
  5. "Film and TV Projects Going Into Production - I Was a Simple Man". Variety Insight. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  6. "ANNOUNCING THE 2021 SDAFF AWARD WINNERS". 2021 San Diego Asian Film Festival. November 6, 2021. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  7. Le, Anderson (November 15, 2021). "HIFF41 Announces Festival Award Winners | Hawai'i International Film Festival". Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  8. "37th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Announces Award Winners". 2021 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  9. I Was a Simple Man, retrieved February 2, 2022
  10. "The Best Movies of 2021". The New Yorker. December 2, 2021. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  11. Hadadi, Roxana. "I Was a Simple Man movie review (2021) | Roger Ebert". www.rogerebert.com/. Retrieved December 19, 2021.
  12. Ehrlich, David (January 29, 2021). "'I Was a Simple Man' Review: Constance Wu Stars in a Hushed and Haunting Hawaii Ghost Story". IndieWire. Retrieved December 19, 2021.


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