If there's anything that ties together the body of Koji Fukada's filmic work, it is that his films stretch the notion of Japanese social graces to their breaking point, and that his films are filled with the most delicious irony. While his latest, A Girl Missing, is not his best work, it remains a solidly made film filled with exceptional performances.
As in films like Hospitalite (2010) and Harmonium (2016) there is an 'intruder' within a Japanese family, but this time, it's by choice: Ichiko Shirakawa (Mariko Tsutsui) is the nurse and caretaker of elderly painter Toko. Having served the Oishi family for a long time, she is trusted by all the members of this all-female family, including aspiring nurse Motoko (Mikako Ichikawa) and young student Saki (Miyu Ogawa). When Saki disappears, the fallout from that disappearance begins to work its way onto Ichiko's life.
Perception is central to A Girl Missing; in one scene, Ichiko talks with her hairdresser friend (Sosuke Ikematsu) about how artists interpret sunflowers. Van Gogh perceived them as symbols of life, while another painter perceived them as symbols of death. And it is in perception, and the implied miscommunication that comes with a wrong(ful) perception of somebody, that contributes to her downfall. She misreads the intentions of another character. Her actions are misconstrued by the media. Reviews of this film remark on how restrained it is, commenting that the rage that builds up within Ichiko does not boil over. But that's simply not the Japanese way. Fukada stretches and stretches the tension to its breaking point, but the conventions of honne and tatemae are still there, stronger than anything else. It allows only for one, shrill, sustained sound, emblematic of all the hurt and pain that has been suffered so far. In crafting A Girl Missing (and all his other films) Fukada continues his exploration of the spaces between people by trying to disrupt that space, and so far he's been very good at it.
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