It's Eiga Sai time! Aside from this year's offering I've been able to see some other Japanese films recently, so I'm including them into the mix too. Enjoy~
Intersecting Love: August in Tokyo
August in Tokyo begins with a sequence of scenes that seem out of place with the rest of the movie. But it does work out in the end eventually, so it does pay off. Also, it makes the title of the film (Ai no chiisana rekishi, roughly translated as 'a short history of love') meaningful in a way.
The movie tells two narrative threads that run mostly in parallel until the end. They both deal with reconnecting with people and all the emotional baggage that comes with it. In contrast with the majority of Eiga Sai offerings it's definitely a low budget production. There are a few comedic moments, but the focus is mainly on drama.
Guilt anchors the two protagonists in their decisions in this film; they are tethers that keep them from moving forward. Once the tethers are broken, the emotional climax of the film starts.
It's not a film for everyone, as the cheaply shot production of some of the scenes may turn off some. But for me it manages to create solid drama without being melodramatic, and its final payoff really ties everything together in an emotionally satisfying manner.
Light Summer Anime: The Boy and the Beast
I'd actually come across Studio Chizu and Mamoru Hosoda's The Boy and the Beast while it was showing in Japanese theaters last year. An all star cast (that included acting faves Koji Yakusho and Aoi Miyazaki) was only icing on a delicious cake of talent responsible for works such as the wonderful Wolf Children and the anime adaptation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time.
The movie tells the tale of a young boy, Ren, who wanders into another world populated by beasts. Soon after he is taken in by the brash Kumatetsu to be his student. He grows up in this world, raised by beasts, when suddenly he finds himself able to return to the human world.
The story is great, but it's not as fully realized as that of Hosoda's other works. The training sequences are very entertaining, and help us empathize with Kumatetsu and his world, but once Ren finds himself wandering back in the human world, there's a certain level of incompleteness to his development. (Perhaps the movie would have been better served as a short series.)
Still, Hosoda manages to bring his distinctive style of visual storytelling into the mix, and does what he can with the time limitations of the film. It goes without saying that the film is visually amazing, and the few action sequences are expertly choreographed. The cast is very solid all around, with veteran screen actors joined by distinguished anime seiyuu.
The Boy and the Beast is entertaining summer fare, but ends up just OK compared to Studio Chizu's previous works.
A Scene at the Sea: Our Little Sister
Hirokazu Kore'eda has made some really great movies in the past 10 or so years, which includes his award winning Nobody Knows. He's mellowed down a bit, but his distinctive style still remains, and his movies still mostly focus on the Japanese family.
Based on the manga Umemachi Diary (also the Japanese title of the movie) Our Little Sister begins and ends with a funeral. You'd think that the movie is dark and dreary, but the film is actually quite light, relatively speaking. It's about three sisters, who, upon attending the funeral of their recently deceased father, find out they have a younger sister (Suzu Hirose.) They invite her to live with them in the ancestral home in the sleepy mountain town of Kamakura, and the film mostly follows them as they go about everyday life.
The storytelling in this film is very restrained. I've heard the word 'patient' being used to describe it, and I wholeheartedly agree. Despite it being generally a light comedy, there's a tinge of melancholy in this film that touches upon what goes on with the characters behind the scenes. There's a sense of lost childhood, of bonds bent and broken beyond repair, of things growing old and moving on. The Japanese call this notion mono no aware, the pathos of things, the sense that people die and move on, and the sense that that's the reality of life. It's a notion that embodies most of Kore'eda's work, as well as many other esteemed Japanese directors both past (Ozu comes to mind) and present.
The production is buoyed by a superb cast (probably the cutest four siblings in Japanese film to date) and moody instrumentals composed by Yoko Kanno. Certain visuals, such as the scene with the fireworks or Suzu Hirose's trip through the 'tunnel' are unforgettable. Our Little Sister is one of my favorite films of his, and I can't help but want to read the manga after watching this.
Eiga Sai is showing every day at the Shangrila Cineplex until July 17th, and later at other venues. Admission is free.
Other Japanese Films I Saw Last Week (not shown at Eiga Sai)
Retro Romance: Initiation Love
One of Initiation Love's selling points is the big twist at the last five minutes that completely changes the meaning of the film. Since the film itself made me promise not to divulge that twist, I won't reveal it here. But the twist's effectiveness hinges on how you interpret the rest of the movie.
Set in 1980's Japan (accompanied by that era's greatest Japanese love hits,) Initiation Love is divided into two segments, like a cassette tape: Side A and Side B. Side A is a sweet tale about a 'no girlfriend since birth' kinda guy who gets infatuated with, and later starts dating, a cute girl. In many respects it mirrors the best of mainstream rom com love stories.
Side B, on the other hand, is a completely different monster. Darker in tone, it completely deconstructs the themes of this first half. While it manages to avoid completely going over the rails with its drama, the overall effect feels kinda clunky.
The film banks on nostalgia (the end credits actually explain some of the 80's references made by the film) and the narrative trick it employs at the end. The ending is a bit inconclusive but again, it kind of depends on which Side you liked best. It makes you want to revisit the film again, and see if some characters that initially came off as charming now seem manipulative. (In any case, the film does give a few clues to the nature of this twist even early on.)
The film is a mixed bag. Fans of Atsuko Maeda will no doubt enjoy this, as she gives a really great performance in this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment