“I Was a Simple Man,” written and directed by Christopher Makoto Yogi, is now playing through Dec. 9 at Laemmle’s Royal, 11523 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles.
The director will participate in Q&A on Dec. 3 and 4 after the 7:10 p.m. screenings. Cast members Kanoa Goo and Nelson Lee will join him on Friday.
“I Was a Simple Man” is a ghost story set in the pastoral countryside of the north shore of Oahu. Revealed in four chapters, it tells the story of an elderly man facing the end of his life, visited by the ghosts of his past.
Incorporating familial history and mythology, dream logic and surrealism, “I Was a Simple Man” is a time-shifting, kaleidoscopic story of a fractured family facing the death of their patriarch that will take the viewer from the high-rises of contemporary Honolulu to pre-World War II pastorals of Oahu and, finally, into the beyond.
The cast includes Steve Iwamoto, Tim Chiou and Kyle Kosaki, playing the main character, Masao Matsuyoshi, at different ages.
The Hollywood Reporter had this to say about the film, which had its world premiere at Sundance: “A gentle reflection on memory and death, featuring Constance Wu as the ghost of a woman who returns to comfort her Japanese Hawaiian husband near the end of his life.”
Wu is known for the TV series “Fresh Off the Boat” and the movies “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Hustlers.”
Showtimes: Dec. 3-5, 4:10 and 7:10 p.m.; Dec. 6, 4:10 p.m. Dec. 7, 4:10 and 7:10 p.m.; Dec. 8, 4:10 p.m.; Dec. 9, 4:10 and 7:10 p.m.
For tickets and more information, call (310) 478-3836 or visit: https://www.laemmle.com