The 68th Blue Ribbon Awards ceremony was held on February 17th at Iino Hall (Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo), where Tsumabuki Satoshi appeared to receive the Best Actor award for his role in the film "Treasure Island" (directed by Otomo Keishi). This is Tsumabuki's second time receiving the award, 15 years after winning it for "Villain" in 2010.
Director Lee Sang-il, who directed "Villain," also appeared at the awards ceremony after winning Best Picture for his film "National Treasure." Director Lee congratulated Tsumabuki, saying, "When I think back to 'Villain,' I was struggling the most as an actor. I feel that my determination to grasp something, along with my anxiety, gave me strength for that role. Over 10 years have passed since then, and he has matured, standing as an actor who truly carries the work on his shoulders. In 'Treasure Island,' he was portrayed as 'This person carries this film. He's the face,' so I really felt that magnitude." He smiled and praised Tsumabuki, saying, "You've grown so much."
Tsukamoto's eyes welled up with tears as he commented on the words of his close friend, director Lee, "He's definitely trying to make me cry." He continued, "Lee and I have been working together since '69 sixty-nine' (2004), when we were both still young. In particular, for this latest film, 'National Treasure' and 'Treasure Island,' we wrote the scripts at the same time, shot them at the same time, and released them at the same time, and they were about the same length (of running time), so we would ask each other, 'Is it okay?' It felt like we were asking each other, 'How about you?' and I felt honored to be walking through the history of film together with Lee. It feels like we're both working hard even at this age, and that we're able to see the scenery that we want to see, and that makes me happy. Thank you as always."
The Blue Ribbon Awards are a film award established by the Tokyo Film Critics Association, which is made up of film journalists from seven sports newspapers in Tokyo. Tsukamoto won Best Actor, Hirose Suzu won Best Actress, Sato Jiro won Best Supporting Actor, Morita Nozomi won Best Supporting Actress, and Shibuya Ryuta won Best Newcomer, and all attended the awards ceremony. Yamaguchi Makiya and Kawai Yumi served as hosts.
◇The awards are as follows (titles omitted):
Best Picture: "National Treasure" directed by Lee Sang-il ▽ Best Director: Yamada Yoji "TOKYO Taxi" ▽ Best Actor: Tsumabuki Satoshi "Treasure Island" ▽ Best Actress: Hirose Suzu "Unrequited Love World," "Distant Mountain Light," "Yukite Kaherenu" ▽ Best Supporting Actor: Sato Jiro "Bomb" ▽ Best Supporting Actress: Morita Nozomi "Night Flower" ▽ Best Newcomer: Shibuya Ryuta "Night Flower" ▽ Best Foreign Film: "Pope Election"
