Crossroads (no relation to the Britney Spears movie) deals with international volunteerism, wherein citizens from first world countries give their expertise to help impoverished or developing communities. I personally have mixed feelings about the subject, but I decided to give this movie a try and see if it could change my mind.
Our main character, Sawada, has a rather cynical opinion about the whole thing. This puts him at odds with fellow volunteer, Hamura, whose views are more idealistic. The rest of the film is more or less a clash of views between the two individuals as they go to the Philippines and help communities in Benguet. On paper it looks like a decent setup.
The reality, on the other hand, is quite different. Crossroads, to put it simply, is not very well made. It exists in a magical universe where all Filipinos always speak English, even when speaking to other Filipinos. No Tagalog, Ilocano, or Ibaloi is spoken anywhere. One could argue that it's for the sake of consistency, but the Japanese subtitles that are present in all of the English speaking scenes give that argument little weight. The film reads like it was written by an outsider to the Philippines, which makes a lot of situations extremely strange to the native viewer.
The acting is generally not very good, either. The only actors that give anything close to a decent performance are Dai Watanabe and Tao Okamoto, and their performances suffer due to a terrible script. But no one takes the bad acting cake more than "Queen of Cosplay" Alodia Gosiengfiao. While she's a decent cosplayer, she has the acting presence of a piece of cardboard, and more often than not seems to be reading lines instead of acting. The notion that she's lived with her (considerably more grubby) brother Noel in a harsh mining town environment also stretches common sense.
The film seems to make the point that Sawada and Hamura's ideas combined, combining compassion and practicality, is the best solution, but the film does not do a good job communicating this, either: in the end, Hamura's plan is far less successful than the plan conceived by the locals indirectly under the care of Sawada - Sawada didn't even give them any ideas towards that plan.
Crossroads does tackle a few pertinent issues like the dangers of mining and its effect on indigenous communities, but overall it's not worth the watch.
[I'd actually watched Yuya Ishii's The Great Passage a while back on RED, so I decided to tidy up my (then pending) short review and post it on here.]
Based on Shiwon Miura's novel, The Great Passage is a romance film that has a uniquely Japanese flavor. It's paced leisurely compared to its western counterparts and patiently takes its time to tell the story of Majima (Ryuusei Matsuda), a shy salesman who gets roped into the creation of a dictionary. The work is meticulous, taxing and will take years to complete - the perfect job for a man like him.
The film's Japanese title, Fune wo Amu, reflects the film's love of the Japanese language. Amu could mean to compile (as in a dictionary) or to weave, thus literally the title means "To compile/weave a boat," and in this context the boat is metaphorical, the kind of boat that, in one character's words, "sails the sea of words." Our protagonists scour conversations of the people around them, collecting as much words as possible - words that, in the span of months or years, could either flourish or disappear into obscurity.
Supporting Majima (and forming the third point in this man-woman-language triangle) is Kaguya (Aoi Miyazaki), who quickly takes a liking to the shy man and helps him bloom socially. Her love is seldom overt, expressed in simple gestures, in cold meals untouched, in patience.
It's a relatively light film, filled with moments that make more sense if you read between the lines. I'm a Shiwon Miura fan now, btw.
Finally, I'd actually talked a bit about Flying Colors (a.k.a. Biri Gyaru) when I went to Japan last year, and I correctly predicted it would be featured in this year's Eiga Sai. Even if I knew the outcome to the real life story (and by extension, the movie), it's no less entertaining or moving, because, as with all these 'ganbatte!' films, the journey is often more important than the destination.
Based on a best selling novel, the movie is about the journey of Sayaka (Kasumi Arimura), from being dead last in class (with the educational level of a fourth grader) to taking on the entrance exams for Keio University, known for its brutal entrance exams and low passing rate.
University entrance exams in Japan are quite competitive, and this movie takes a look into Japan's culture of studying. Aside from normal eight to five classes, many students go to Juku, or Cram Schools, where they undertake additional studies to be able to prepare for and enter the college of their choice. Some pass their first or second choice. Others fail the entrance exams and become 'Ronin,' studying outside the school system until the next examination period.
Sayaka's journey through studying is relentless, as she changes her lifestyle and discards her partygoing life for this singular purpose. She stumbles across several roadblocks along the way - sources of dramatic tension - but she always trudges forward nevertheless.
This story's unsung hero is Tsubota (Atsushi Ito), the cram school teacher who mentors and guides our heroine through her struggle. He's the kind of teacher you wish you had in high school or in college, the kind of teacher who believes in you no matter what, through failure or triumph. His interactions with the students are touching and a bit inspirational, as cheesy as that may sound.
It's a feel good movie with a lot of positive life lessons. Unless you're a heartless cynic, the movie's message and spirit is quite infectious.
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Tomorrow's the last day of Eiga Sai in Shangrila Cineplex, but you can catch the film fest in other places, including Cinemalaya and in the provinces, in subsequent dates.
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