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Reviews
Like Someone in Love (2012)
Intriguing from start, but tediously slow and ultimately disappointing
This is a film that from the get-go grabs your interest. It has a unique story, a stylish look and some saddening, emotional moments from it's very beginning that really get you invested in it. A student with a working-class and jealous fiance jilts both him and her concerned family to work secretly as a call girl with her best friend Nagisa. An elderly widower who hires her to talk to him eventually befriends her and becomes more and more involved in her life.
There's so much potential here and as I said, it really hooks you from the get-go in every way. Unfortunately, I felt like I enjoyed parts of this film despite Abbas Kiarostami's direction, rather than because of it. The plot is intriguing (if a bit underdeveloped), the characters and their dynamics are really interesting and the acting is well done all-around. Pretty colours, interesting cinematography too. But jesus, the director really manages to test your patience and turn all of these elements from the genre of dramatic film into the one of tedium and high-level boredom.
I'm sure many would call me uncultured for this, but I really don't see what a five-minute shot of an old man sleeping in his car adds to anything, other than the running time. It's infuriating, because you start to care about the characters and the story and then gradually your thoughts turn to contemplating fast-forwarding or turning the whole damn thing off. Stupid, pointless scenes such as a man realising he's parked on the street so he has to turn his car all the way around. No cutting - of course not - because this director considers himself an 'artisté' and has to show you the entire motion of a guy parking, unparking and driving in a circle in order to park his car someplace else. But hey, maybe it's a metaphor. I'll be sure to call my old English Lit teacher and ask them for the deeper meaning. In the meantime, I was bored to death.
I was going to say that ultimately, the one thing this film did was show me that you can actually enjoy a film even when it frustrates you persistently throughout. But with the way it ends - abruptly, very rushed and without any kind of deep meaning or interesting takes or anything at all, and taking so long to get there - I couldn't even say that.
The most frustrating thing is that if you cut out all the unnecessary chaff, you could have filled the gaps in this film and made it a truly great movie. Develop the main characters a bit more, follow through their quarrels and moral conundrums, give us something to think about instead of pushing ideas into frame and then fading them back out undeveloped, never to be seen again. Unfortunately, this film is instead full of gratuitous scenes only the director himself and armchair cinephiles could really enjoy. A shame, and a real waste from what could have been.
I really wanted to like this one. But I couldn't.
Man from Reno (2014)
Transcending culture and emotions to blend Noir & Cosy mystery genres expertly
I didn't expect much from this as I'd never heard of it before, but the photographs of the posters caught my eye so I thought I'd give it a go. This production from noted Japanophile Dave Boyle, however, really surprised me. I'm a huge fan of noir films, and I was curious how this American-Japanese bilingual film's take on the elusive genre would turn out. I was pleasantly surprised!
The characters seem quite sweet in their way. You've got the Japanese mystery author who is hiding from her fame and missing her dead sweetheart. Then you've got the friendly old sheriff, wise yet not grizzled, differing from the stereotype of a hardboiled detective in that for all his years of experience he's not jaded or glaringly cynical. He's just good at his job. Not to mention he's got his perky young daughter on his force, working smartly in this cute kind of partnership for the meantime until she overpasses him and joins the FBI.
Yet despite the cosy vibes, there's this ever-real threat. Our writer-sleuth is essentially playing Nancy Drew, yet she's facing serious danger and menace from some dodgy people. People go missing, thugs stalk her in the shadows, and you're never sure what to make of all this. Is this a cosy mystery or a Hammett-esque thriller?
This uncertainty really gets played with as the fil twists and turns in the darkness, and honestly the way it turned out bumped this film at least a star higher than I would've rated it otherwise.
There's mystery upon mystery as the crime at the heart of the story broadens in scope and becomes something larger than you thought. It's classic noir but with some cosy sweetness between characters that few noirs have, without compromising the thrill of the seedy, dark moments. I was really impressed with how it all came together, and I've found that I haven't stopped thinking about it since.
Wasurenai to chikatta boku ga ita (2015)
Sweet, if you stick with it
This is actually a really nice film once it gets going, but it takes a while to get there.
I've never seen a film get carried solely on one actress's smile like the first half of this film does. That's about the only thing that kept me watching through the first half.
The premise is utterly bonkers, and the whole first half of the film is dedicated to introducing that premise. The dialogue is clunky, and at the start you have to suffer a lot of "I'm a weird elusive girl but you'll just have to get with the program and follow me" moments which gets exhausting instantly. I found myself getting quite annoyed by the main female at the start, rather than curious about her. The English translation also sucks, which makes conversations confusing. And the side characters are mostly lifeless. If they spent less time on introducing the premise, this bit might be more bearable. Although once you get further on you might appreciate why they chose to do that.
It does pick up later. Seeing the 'home video'-style bits on Youtube are how I first heard of this film, and those are certainly highlights. Pretty, cute moments captured in that style, or sweet rendezvous scenes on bridges or rooftops. That's where you'll get sucked in.
The longing tone sets in late, but it overpowers all the clunkiness or annoyance you suffered in the first half. It even threatens to get philosophical at parts. Ultimately this film did manage to move me, despite irriatating me at the start. And you realise the actors are both good by the end too. Sweet film overall, if you're patient.