The Frame
2000 Drama | SciFi/FantasyJapanese director Satoshi Isaka spins this taunt thriller about an ultra-ambitious reporter who soon finds herself on the receiving end of tabloid dirt. Popular television actress Hitomi Kuroki stars as Yuko, an ice-queen TV news editor who is approached by a mysterious man from the PTT Ministry. The man offers her proof, on videotape, that a major university is bribing a particular government official to overlook a massive media merger. The secret transaction has already resulted in the death of one investigator. Yuko promptly broadcasts the damning footage, and high-ranking bureaucrat Aso (Takanori Jinnai) is forced out of office. With his career ruined, Aso sets about proving to Yuko that she was set up by her mysterious visitor, while a steady regime of finely-calibrated harassment is initiated against her. Yuko soon finds herself forced to figure out whether she was framed from the beginning in an attempt to discredit her or if Aso is merely playing the innocent victim in order to deflect blame. This film was screened at the 2000 Berlin Film Festival.~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide