Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess

Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess is a 2009 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Nishitani. It was followed by the TV drama sequel The Diplomat Kosaku Kuroda and the film sequel Andalucia: Revenge of the Goddess.

WWW amalfi50.jp

Premise

Kuroda is a diplomat who arrives in Italy to improve security for the visit of Foreign Minister Watagoe but he is involved in the case of a young Japanese girl abducted in Rome at Christmas. After some negotiation attempts, Kuroda realizes that a plot against the Japanese government lies behind the kidnapping.

Cast

Yūji Oda as Kōsaku Kuroda
Yūki Amami as Saeko Yagami
Kōichi Satō as Masaki Fujii
Erika Toda as Kanae Adachi
Rocco Papaleo as inspector Bartolini
Nene Otsuka as Yoshimi Haba
Akira Onodera as Kiyofumi Kikuhara
Shirō Sano as Michio Nishino
Masaharu Fukuyama as Shōgo Saeki
Kiichi Nakai as the voice of Hiroshi Kataoka
Sarah Brightman herself

Production

A special production by Fuji TV to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Amalfi was the first Japanese movie to be shot entirely in Italy. Filming took place in Rome, Caserta and the Amalfi coast.

Reception

The film received negative reviews from critics but performed well at the box office. It was the ninth highest-grossing film in Japan in 2009.