ando news.
title: korogi /crickets
Cast: Kyoka Suzuki, Tsutomu Yamazaki , Masanobu Ando , Ito Ayumi
Story: Kaoru, a wealthy woman whose youth is fading, has retired from city life to a cottage on the coast where she looks after an old man who is blind and dumb. However, the relationship of mutual dependence becomes destructive and when the old man dies, does Kaoru really become free?
I got a little lost with this since it is a 2006 movie but it is shown in this year Sitges festival along other festivals O.o And in the Japanese wiki of ando it is as a 2007 film...
title: Mei Lanfang
Story: A biographical account of Mei Lanfang, China's greatest opera star.
Cast: Ziyi Zhang, Gillian Chung, Leon Lai, Masanobu Ando, Daoming Chen, Honglei Sun, Hong Chen, Xueqi Wang, Da Ying, Yuanzheng Feng ...
Ando role: Masanobu Ando's role is an obsessive fan of Chinese opera, who later becomes a close friend of Mei Lanfang.
Also, from tokyograph:
Actor Masanobu Ando has been given a main role in a new film by acclaimed Chinese director Chen Kaige, titled "Mei Lanfang." This is Ando's first role in a foreign film.
In commemoration of Beijing hosting next year's Olympics, the Chinese government asked Chen to create a film based on the Beijing opera art form. Leon Lai will star as the famous performer Mei Lanfang. Zhang Ziyi has been cast as the lead female, and Sun Honglei plays Mei's friend. Ando will play another of Mei's friends, an officer in the Japanese army.
The film is expected to be released near the start of the Olympics (August 8). Kaige is also aiming to take the film to Cannes. A more detailed announcement will be made in China around the 20th of this month, and filming will begin shortly after.
Ando, at a press conference in Beijing, promoting Mei Lanfang, on Thursday, July 19, 2007