First of all, April marks a month of celebration as this blog marks its 12th year of existence, so I'll probably be blogging more than usual for the next few weeks. For this post, I've taken the time to revisit one of my favorite Shunji Iwai films, Hana and Alice.
Iwai is one of my favorite Japanese directors, and his 1996 film Swallowtail is my all time favorite movie. Prior to Hana and Alice, Iwai shot All About Lily Chou Chou, a dark, brooding examination of youth and disconnection in the digital age, when social media was non existent, and social interactions on the net took place on BBSes or image boards like 2ch (which still exists today.)
Hana and Alice is a far lighter tale than that film; it's more comparable to a slice of life anime. The titular characters, Hana (Anne Suzuki) and Alice (Yu Aoi) are best friends. One day, Hana gets infatuated with a boy, Masashi. When Masashi gets into a minor accident, Hana pretends that he has amnesia and she is actually his girlfriend.
As the lie grows even more complex, Alice is dragged into the situation, which is further complicated when Alice and Masashi form a relationship based on that lie. This extended network of lies and stories is quite fascinating, and I think it's the central theme of the film. Hana and Alice is a story about stories and storytellers. It's about how we tend to believe convenient tales even when we know they are false, because that's exactly what we want instead of what is. Indeed, aren't some stories but beautiful lies?
The connections to the themes do not stop there. Hana joins a Rakugo club to get closer to Masashi. Rakugo is a form of traditional Japanese storytelling, usually involving a set of characters in a (usually comedic) situation, the sitcom of ages past. It's made even more clear when one of the penultimate scenes juxtaposes a heartfelt confession with a Rakugo performance. One of Alice's friends takes pictures - itself a form of storytelling. These stories give Alice the courage to make amends later on in the story. And Alice herself expresses a story during an audition through dance, after spending most of the film awkwardly going from one audition to another, unable to act out her feelings.
And it's masterfully done at times when the film decides to imply a greater picture instead of spoon-feeding us the answers. Hana and Alice each have their own set of problems and life issues that find their way to us occasionally within the story, and they lead to some really lovely moments. Alice's lunch with her father is quite affecting because of these personal moments, and their interaction shapes a lot of Alice's decisions in the latter half of the film.
The acting can get a little bit silly at times, but it's great overall. The film is carried by Yu Aoi, who in my opinion is the better among the two leads. Her role in this film is markedly different than her much darker debut role in All About Lily Chou Chou, but she brings with it a big helping of charm, while still keeping a sense of vulnerability. A few other Iwai regulars appear in the film, including cameos from Ayumi Ito, and actors like Takao Osawa and Hiroshi Abe.
While light and funny (this is still probably one of Iwai's lightest and funniest films), Hana and Alice is a great movie that tends to be overlooked sometimes when one peruses through Iwai's oeuvre.
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