In 1970s Koza, Okinawa during the American occupation, American GIs streamed into town en route to Vietnam, and live music clubs raked in enough nightly cash to build a house. Koza brimmed with money, riots, and rock n’ roll music. 50 years later, the excitement is long gone, and plans to develop the area into a modern, sterile shopping district are underway. Shota, the grandson of legendary rocker Haru, has been spending his days in idleness dreaming of music fame, when his grandfather is suddenly killed in a traffic accident. Shortly thereafter, Haru’s ghost appears to Shota with an otherworldly proposition: trade bodies so grandpa can take care of unfinished business, just for a little while! But before he can even respond, Shota finds himself transported to the 1970s, his spirit transmuted to the then young and rocking Haru. The problem is Shota doesn’t know how to play rock n’ roll or have any of his grandfather’s confidence or charisma. The longer he stays in this body, the more trouble it spells for Haru and his band… From director Kazuhiro Taira, this body-swap time travelling comedy is hugely entertaining from beginning to end. Yet underneath the glossy rock n’ roll veneer, Taira deftly examines the legacy of the US occupation of Okinawa, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
