The 2020 Japanese animated film Josee, The Tiger and The Fish (ジョゼと虎と魚たち) will play in Pittsburgh on July 12 and 13.
In Josee, The Tiger and the Fish, there isn't a magical world to which our protagonist, Kumiko, can escape, aside from her own vibrant imagination. Kumiko prefers to be called Josee, a character from one of her favorite books. Unable to use her legs from birth, Josee, now in her early 20s, is cared for by her loving but controlling grandmother, who forbids her to leave the house except on short walks. It’s on one of these walks that Josee loses control of her wheelchair and careens down a steep hill. Luckily, her fall is stopped by Tsuneo, a university student who lives in the area. The night Tsuneo inadvertently saves Josee, her grandmother offers him a new job with better pay than most: to look after her granddaughter. The two begin to venture from home, to movies, amusement parks, aquariums and even the ocean. Josee begins to emerge from her shell, sharing with Tsuneo her passion for drawing and her ambition to become an artist. Soon Tsuneo begins to understand all the complexities of life without the use of one’s legs, from navigating train lines with a wheelchair to simply cooking a meal at home.It plays locally at the Cinemark in the North Hills. Tickets are available online; the July 12 screening is in Japanese with English subtitles, and the July 13 screening is dubbed in English.