elision10

As an old, conservative, straight man who rolls his eyes when he hears "What are your pronouns?, I'm not the prime target of a movie about a young boy of confused sexuality. But I greatly enjoyed the film. If this were a Hollywood treatment of the topic, the father would be an alcoholic, former Marine with PTSAD who keeps screaming at the kid "Act like a man." But all the characters here, while not equally sympathetic, are never reduced to such stereotypes. They are all terribly human, struggling how to deal with a situation that baffles and upsets them. The extended family is introduced to us, and its history and skeletons in the closet are explored. The film is likely too long, and it would have been better served by a more severe editor or tighter script. But it's certainly a rewarding two hours and well recommended.

There's nothing very wrong with the film -- aside from one improbable scene of breaking the rules that supposedly bonds characters but mostly stretches credulity -- but there's nothing that great about the movie either. All the familiar dramatic components of a troubled family member drama -- childhood memories, melancholy music, family betrayal, misunderstanding, the wise older woman met along the way, etc. Are here. Nothing is told in a way that's original or different, that in any way makes the movie stand out and memorable. The two leads aren't bad as a team, and so the movie can be used to pass a couple of hours, if not particularly pleasurably at least holding the viewer's interest. But it's not the kind of movie you'd want to recommend to anyone, at least I wouldn't. While not relentlessly depressingly, it's certainly not a happy one. But if your local Kanopy has it, you can give it a try, if nothing else is immediately appealing.

If you haven't lived in Japan or had extensive contact with the Japanese, this movie will probably work just fine for you. If you have, the condescending respect that some Westerners give to all things Japanese is on display here and annoying. There's nothing particularly sacred about Japanese ways. They're just different. Americans like eggs for breakfast; SOME Japanese eat fish. There's nothing better about the choice. The young college students in the film, with the exception of the lead, are portrayed as borderline racists; the Japanese are all good souls. And of all the possible crimes of WWII, the bombing of Hiroshima is among the most ambiguous. Indeed, ask an ally soldier of advanced age (most are no longer with us) what they think of the bombing, and for the most part there's just thankfulness the extraordinary warmongering and cruelty of that generation of Japanese was finally ended. Whether the victims deserved their fate could be debated endlessly; but a large part of the Japanese public was caught up in the same kind of nationalistic fervor as the Germans. As I said, if you don't know or care about any of this, you'll likely find the movie a somewhat bland but appealing love story that's a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. But if the kinds of things I mentioned get to you, I'd skip it.