Note: Spoilers are present in this piece.
In Japanese aesthetics, the concept of Wabi-sabi (侘寂) finds beauty in imperfection, meaning in brokenness. These flaws are not hidden, but emphasized: in the pottery technique Kintsugi, as one character in Lawrence Fajardo's film of the same name states, these flaws are the main feature of the piece. Yet in doing so, Wabi-sabi also notes the nature of transience and impermanence, in that all things, eventually, are broken. While the concept behind Kintsugi the film is nothing new - romance stories in Japan have been tackled in local films such as Between Maybes (2019) and diaspora stories in Japan was the focus of Fajardo's own Imbisibol (2015) - there's something interesting behind the flaws of this imperfect film.
Dante (JC Santos) is a potter and craftsman working in Saga prefecture, a place in Japan known for its potters. Like most Filipinos working abroad, he does this to support his family. He meets and gets infatuated with Harue (Hiro Nishiuchi), an art teacher who returns to her family house after a stint in Tokyo.
The film is presented with muted colors, the camerawork often fixed. At times, domestic scenes are shot closer to the floor, similar to Ozu's famed 'tatami shots.' And it fits with the mundanity of the film's goings-on, as it depicts the normal lives of normal people.
The beginning of the film takes us through the motions of a romance that seems normal at first glance, but it takes an unexpected turn when Dante returns to the Philippines and reveals more about his background. He comes from a family of potters and artisans, just like Harue's family in Japan; but while Harue's family is thriving, Dante's family craft is in danger of shutting down, due to a number of external factors (lack of government support being one of them.) It's also shown that he's married, but his wife was involved in a tragic accident and has been unconscious for a long time. Him reaching out to Harue and falling in love with her now feels like an escape, a life with her signifying a sense of perfection that he is unable to reach in his own land. His personal struggle mirrors the struggles Filipinos feel when going to another country for a better life - where the same life back home offers little to no benefits.
And although a life abroad is something that Dante aspires to achieve, Harue doesn't exactly have it easy either in Japan. While she is a talented potter and artist, those talents are mostly set aside because she is a woman. She cannot inherit the family business by herself, and her future is set towards a path she doesn't necessarily like. And Harue's father, perhaps out of either deep seated prejudice towards gaijin or concern for his daughter, drives a wedge in Dante and Harue's plans.
In contrast to Kintsugi, where the flaws are seen, the troubles that beset Dante and Harue are flaws that are hidden beyond each others' sight, leading to misunderstanding and conflict. It's hard to find the beauty in them, if such beauty even exists. But here we arrive at the second meaning in Wabi-sabi - that acknowledgement of the transience of things. Filipinos can claim another place as home, but some roots will forever stay in home soil; love can grow and blossom, but that too cannot last. All things pass and fade away, and the tragedy and sad beauty of life is in accepting that this is the way things are.
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