I Wish (from director of Still Walking / Nobody Knows)

johnny_ultimate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M63wEJBzupE

Delighted to see this is receiving a 'better late than never' theatrical release next week. It's been out on U.S. DVD and Netflix for a while now, but director Hirokazu Kore-eda's latest is an absolute joy and hopefully more people will get a chance to check it out. I know I can't wait to rewatch it on the big screen. Although its likely to get drowned out by the bigger releases of the moment, this is one of the most delightful and charming films I watched last year. I've pasted my review below, but I'd most definitely recommend it to pretty much anyone. It's accessible, charming, funny and moving. If it wasn't for potentially troublesome subtitles, it'd make for wonderful family viewing too. While it ultimately may only be arthouse audiences who track it down, this is a masterful director producing another beautiful and thoughtful piece of work. It's not everyday we're able to use positive comparisons to Ozu

Some directors make it all look so... effortless. Hirokazu Koreeda is one such director. Almost allergic to pretension, his best films are so carefully considered and beautifully realised that they cannot fail to impress. I Wish is Koreeda's follow up to the director's acclaimed Still Walking (2008) and the as yet unreleased in the West Air Doll (2009). This latest effort is likely the most accessible film he has yet made, and it's also one of his best.

Real-life brothers Koki Maeda and Ohshirô Maeda play Koichi and Ryunosuke - two young brothers separated as a result of their parents' marital difficulties. Quiet Koichi is living with his mother and grandparents in Kagoshima (adjacent to an erupting volcano spraying a fine layer of ash all over the town), while hyperactive Ryunosuke is with his musician father in the city of Fukuoka. Keeping in contact via phone, the brothers wish that their family could be brought back together. Meanwhile, their respective friends are also dealing with various trials and tribulations - from a girl dreaming of fame to the boys who have discovered their first crush in the form of the school librarian. The adults too have all manner of problems to deal with - from new romances to uncertain finances. When Koichi and his pals hear that a new shinkansen (bullet train) route is abot to open, they become convinced that the energy created by two trains passing by each other will be enough to make their various wishes come true. With a goal in mind, the two separate groups of schoolkids weasel their way out of class and past their guardians to embark on an epic trip to an elevated railway.

I don't want to oversell this comparison too much because it's kind of ridiculous, but I Wish is sort of like a Japanese arthouse version of The Goonies. They both concern groups of kids dealing with the challenges of growing up and potential separation, and the characters in each conjure up a fantastical quest to make dreams come true. Of course, I Wish is much more naturalistic and reserved than the swashbuckling thrills of The Goonies, but they're both joyous celebrations of young imagination in the face of adversity. Koreeda has thread vaguely similar ground before, in the much darker, more sobering Nobody Knows (about very young brothers and sisters forced to fend for themselves when abandoned by their deadbeat mother). I Wish's comparative accessibility and lightheartedness, however, do not diminish the artistry and achievement of the work.

The film does not, however, start particularly well. With a significant amount of characters to introduce, the film initially tells its story through a fractured structure that jumps geographically from scene to scene with only minimal warning. As it leaps back and forth between the relatively large cast of characters, it's easy to lose track of individuals' motivations and situations, or even whether you're in Kagoshima or Fukuoka. However, when the film settles and the characters are firmly established, the film bursts into life and commences to lay on the charm offensive.

Resistance, I'm glad to say, is futile. The film's tone effortlessly segues between considered contemplation and adorable humour. This is a crowd-pleasing cinema in the most positive sense of the phrase. The kids turn in energetic, distinctive performances. Ohshirô Maeda is a standout, his cheeky grin infectiously cheery. A light but likeable soundtrack by Japanese group Quruli reinforces said cheeriness. This is a film full of great warmth and great humour. As the kids go about their lives and prepare for their epic roadtrip, they encounter people and situations that are both entertaining and insightful. Adult problems are constantly intruding in I Wish - and time is indeed dedicated to the older cast members, whose experiences act as intriguing contrasts with the kids - yet they're challenges to be overcome. Lessons are learned, yet the audience is trusted to decipher the film's emotional subtleties and thematic complexities for themselves. Koreeda has an enviable ability to make films that provide instant gratification while still rewarding deeper reflection.

The director's Still Walking had the gall to directly channel Yasujiro Ozu, and amazingly succeeded in homaging the master while retaining an individual vision. I Wish is, similarly, either accidentally or purposefully indebted to Good Morning, and the comparison is again favourable. Like that film, it's absolutely unpretentious and completely charming. The visual style of I Wish is appropriately understated, and Koreeda extracts universally strong performance from his ensemble cast. The lives of these characters are tinged with disappointment, uncertainty and loneliness. Despite such bittersweet themes you will be hard-pressed not to leave I Wish smiling. Seven children are encouraged to embark on an adventure and seek out their dreams, even if the outcomes are rarely easy. It's a simple story, simply told, and it is glorious filmmaking from a master director who makes it all look natural and effortless.

e_e

What a pleasant surprise to see that this is playing. I take it it's on at the IFI?

Still Walking and After Life are underrated masterpieces.

johnny_ultimate

e_e wrote: »

What a pleasant surprise to see that this is playing. I take it it's on at the IFI?

Yup:

I Wish is released EXCLUSIVELY at the IFI from 1st February 2013.

Such a shame a film as accessible as this is relegated to such a limited release But then again I don't think I can recall the last non-anime, non-action Asian film to receive a release anywhere other than the IFI.

Kore-eda is definitely an underappreciated director in the West. Air Doll just received a DVD release before Christmas, and it's worth a watch too, if more uneven than some of his other works.

e_e

Yeah Air Doll's on my wishlist. It has the most unfortunate DVD cover though. :P

johnny_ultimate

Yeah one that's best not to leave just lying around the house. And there's a few scenes in it that are pretty much the antithesis of Lars and The Real Girl!

Sad Professor

Best film I've seen so far this year. I don't think I've ever fallen so quickly head over heels in love with a director as I have with Koreeda. I'm not sure i can subject myself to the potential disappointment of Air Dolls after watching three masterpieces in a row.

Are any of his other films available?

johnny_ultimate

There's a good few of them on Mubi as far as I recall. Still Walking, After Life and Nobody Knows anyway. Think a few lesser known ones (samurai one maybe) too.

Air Doll is very different. It's good, but overall I'd say a tad uneven compared to the rest of his filmography.

Raging I didn't get to rewatch this in the cinema. Hate the way Japanese films are destined for a week in the IFI and no more. If they're lucky

Sad Professor

Koreeda seems to be a victim of the same thinking that prevented Ozu's films from being seen in the West for so long: the assumption that Japanese domestic dramas are too culturally specific. Bizarre! I find the characters and family dynamics of many Japanese films more relatable than American films.

I guess we should be grateful we get to see these films at all.

johnny_ultimate

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Yeah one that's best not to leave just lying around the house. And there's a few scenes in it that are pretty much the antithesis of Lars and The Real Girl!

I ordered the DVD and had it sent to my home address and think that it was a bit of a surprise when I had my mom open the package to see what had arrived for me. She got very quiet all of a sudden and then asked me if I had maybe ordered the wrong film.

e_e

Enjoyable little film. I don't think it sustains its runtime as well as the other Koreeda films I've seen but I was smiling through most of it and he's definitely got a great way with child actors. I should see Nobody Knows.

Sad Professor

It's a bit meandering alright, though having watched Nobody Knows in recent days I was prepared for that so it didn't bother me.

I'd definitely consider Still Walking the best of the three films of his that I've seen. It's most bittersweet and Ozu-like.

johnny_ultimate

Sad Professor wrote: »

Koreeda seems to be a victim of the same thinking that prevented Ozu's films from being seen in the West for so long: the assumption that Japanese domestic dramas are too culturally specific. Bizarre! I find the characters and family dynamics of many Japanese films more relatable than American films.

I guess we should be grateful we get to see these films at all.

Kore-eda's films have actually been pretty well distributed in the West, or certainly several of them have. Still Walking particularly attracted a lot of attention (well, a lot of attention for a small Japanese domestic Ozu homage ) when it was released a few years back. And strangely enough MGM distributed Nobody Knows, which is quite unusual.

I'd definitely say he's the most well regarded contemporary Japanese auteur in the West. Not quite the best known - Miyazaki, Miike etc... - but certainly luckier than most in terms of international distribution. Still, plenty of his films have yet to receive wider releases. Air Doll took years to secure an English translation.

They seem to have gotten rid of a few of his films from Mubi, alas. Maborosi is still up there, although I've yet to get around to it.

johnny_ultimate

Saw an ad for this in Sight & Sound, didn't know it was out: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Koreeda-Hirokazu-Collection-DVD-Doona/dp/B00A1LGOS0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1360946494&sr=8-1

Decent price for four good to great films!

e_e

Now if only they'd get a region 2 release for Maborosi!

johnny_ultimate

Having regrettably missed this in the IFI, got to rewatch it on the big screen this evening. Such a pleasant experience, like getting a big old cinematic hug. The last hour or so is basically immune to cynicism, so many delightful scenes

(the ones where they visit the fake 'grandparents' particularly)

.

Out on DVD and BluRay now for anyone yet to get around to it. Really, you'd be hard pressed to find a film anywhere near as charming.