Woman in Witness Protection

Juzo Itami’s final film features a dazzling performance from his wife and frequent leading lady Nobuko Miyamoto as Biwako, a middle-aged movie-star diva who is the sole witness to a grisly murder. When she is convinced to play bait for the killer, two cops are assigned to protect her, one who is a superfan and the other who couldn’t care less about who she is. As always, Itami deftly balances tones and genres, moving between comedy and suspense with entertaining ease.

Starring Nobuko Miyamoto, Masahiko Nishimura, Yuji Murata