Japan Synopsis
天国から来た男たち
Set in the Philippines, Takashi Miike’s “The Guys from Paradise” weaves together the stories of several real-life criminal cases. Young up-and-coming salary man Kohei Hayakawa is sent to Paradise prison on false drug charges, and assumes his lawyers will clear up this misunderstanding fairly quickly. However, he soon comes to the realization that his innocence means less than how much bribe money he’s able to come up with for his release. It becomes apparent that Kohei is going to have to get to know his fellow inmates a little better, as he’s obviously in this situation for the long haul; but meeting a female inmate from a nearby jail certainly makes his transition to the criminal life a little easier to take.
The 1999–2001 Japan Window
205 Japan films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. The Guys from Paradise sits at position #105.
Other Titles From KSS
The 2000s Japan Landscape
Catalog density by release year in the 2000s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Guys from Paradise premiered. 1020 total titles in this decade from Japan.
Reception Benchmarks
Ranked #2,670 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (42nd percentile by TMDB audience score).
Among Japan Crime productions specifically: #199 of 402 (top 50%).
Production Details
| Primary Country | Japan |
|---|---|
| All Production Countries | Japan, Philippines |
| Original Language | Japanese |
| Production Companies | KSS |
| Runtime | 1h 54m |
| Release Date | October 30, 2000 |
| IMDb | tt0304809 |