While looking at a list of films, I could not help but notice a strand of similarity between the film title and the title of this blog:
Now this is material. Whether terrible or good, this is ideal for blog posting and kind of interesting in its own right. I can start off with a little bit about how I came to choose it and then go on about the nature of choice and naming. If it is the standard kind of derivative Japanese film that i have seen so many of, I can actually say that too. Perfect.[1]And that is the only reason I chose to watch this film, even the poster looks terrible[2]. I checked the main cast and crew and did not recognise any of them so this was a real shot in the dark.
The film starts off at a leisurely pace following an art student, Takatoshi as he makes his regular way to college on the train[3] and on that train he is rather taken by an attractive girl that is also on the travelling. Although not the type to approach girls, as almost all Japanese protagonists seem not to be, he decides that he will talk to her if she gets off at the next station, which she obviously does. When she does get off she also gets off little bit too quickly for him to follow in a particularly cool way so he chases after her. It works though so he does speak to her, belying his lack of experience and tact, he straight out asks her for her email address[4].
The young girl (Emi) responds by saying that she does not have a mobile phone. In 2016. This seems pretty unlikely and so the boy apologises and she reiterates that she really has no mobile phone. After a short chat, they part and Emi, rather cryptically instead of saying bye, says "See you tomorrow".
Tomorrow comes, labelled definitively as Day 2, and although quite taken with Emi, he seems unable to find her again having retraced his journey from the previous day in order to let serendipity play again.
See you tomorrow.
Drawing giraffes at the zoo, Takatoshi, is suddenly approached by Emi who'd remembered that he'd be at the zoo. After some stilted and awkward conversation between the two of them, Emi inexplicably persuades Takatoshi that they should go and have a wander around and even offers her telephone number to arrange a proper date. Japanese romantic films are almost always based around first experiences or inexperienced couples and often revolve around an awkward chat fantasy whereby love blossoms as a result of awkward yet heartfelt chat. It seems inexplicable that Emi would be taken with someone that seems so inarticulate and awkward, but it is a pretty standard trope. I always have a little difficulty with this as it seems so far fetched but with it being such a common thread within Japanese films I can only assume it is vaguely realistic or a very common fantasy that gives hope to those that are not socially capable. In this film, the couple are both 20 years old (which is the age of majority in Japan) and as the film progresses, it depicts a number of relationship waypoints such as holding hands, cooking and the stages of informality for names[5].
These stages are shown quite mechanically, almost in a step by step way. The sharp focus of the moment, with quite specific timings feels pretty forced and a little too heavily signposted for my liking. When Takatoshi wants to do something new, he asks whether it is OK to do, such as hold hands, which has the effect of signifying them as important moments in their relationship and lives. It is kind of sweet to see them get quite so excited, Emi in particular is wont to cry, but also a little tiresome initially. It begins to feel like going through the motions, it all feels quite prescribed. Cinematically, it feels a little unoriginal with the soft, advertesque music bed also feeling like a by the numbers construction.
Once the basic foundations of the relationship are set in the film, things do get significantly more interesting after Emi’s secret is revealed which changes the nature of their relationship quite markedly. It also entirely changes the nature and complexion of the film. It both isn't fair to say what that secret is and also quite difficult to review a film without doing so. Suffice to say, the motivations and excitements of each person is basically flipped on its head although it definitely retains a romantic edge throughout the film.
As I have intimated before, I really love films that dizzy and disorientate me and the changeover[6] here does that both subtly and neatly which makes the remainder of the film pass by in a bit of a daze. There is considerable lightness of touch here to make the fulcrum of the film so easily understood with a willingness to suspend belief. After the changeover, the previously smitten Takatoshi is a little dazed himself as he comes to terms with it and that fits perfectly with how the viewer feels. He starts to reconsider the last few days with a fresh perspective as I also started to do at a cinematic level and some of what were weaknesses can now be reassessed.
Without giving too much away, the questions asked of the viewer about the nature of relationships and their purpose are intriguing enough to consider for some time. The numbering of the days also reminded me a little of 500 Days of Summer (which I rather enjoyed) as did some of the tone of the film. I cannot quite put my finger on what it was that seemed to link them in their atmosphere other than maybe the tension within both films of connection and disconnection. The number of days being displayed works well, acting as a constant reminder of how finite a given situation is.
I can say that the director has done a very good job of creating the narrative and the construction of the whole film is truly brilliant. It is a little difficult to judge some of the film as I did think that it was quite poor initially but the end makes you reappraise the beginning and made those odd moments coherent. The handheld, yet relatively static, camera style is used to give a level of intimacy that is important for a piece that really does revolve around two characters - the friends and family are rarely seen. The dates take place in and around Kyoto are well captured and the details of the city come through well without having to show a tourist/highlights reel of temples and suchlike. As much of the story takes place in the suburbs of Kyoto, there are some nice little details of the space which appeal.
The level of serendipity involved in watching My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday is kind of covered within the film itself as it revolves around coincidence and whether it ever really is coincidence. Was it always destined to catch my eye? I'm not sure I believe in that kind of destiny and I hope that some may be prompted to not wait for coincidence and search this film out (and you can start with the trailer).
1. I think this counts as breaking the fourth wall.↩
2. They say you should not judge books by their covers but surely, the cover forms part of the book and surely it is fine to consider the whole product holistically - the cover is there for a reason.↩
3. This train looked very familiar to me and as the film is set in Kyoto, I wondered where it was set. I did not have to wait very long as it is fairly integral to the film that it is around the stations/areas of Takaragaike and Shugakuin which I happened to visit in 2016. These little details always ground me into films.↩
4. In Japan the email address is a very personal piece of information as it is implicitly linked to the mobile phone and so is the most direct way of contacting people. As this was used instead of text messaging, it is also quite personal.↩
5. At what time do you switch to casual? This question is asked within the dialogue and captures the social structure set within the Japanese language so it may not be so clear to everyone. Initially names have an honorific suffix, most commonly -san. As a relationship develops, and this is true of platonic ones too, that suffix can change to a more informal one, such as -chan, and nicknames can also develop. This gives quite clear defined ranges within any interaction you have with a a person.↩
6. "It's called a changeover. The movie goes on, and nobody in the audience has any idea."↩
No comments:
Post a Comment