Welcome to the Othello champion
Continuing my trip up The Guardian's top 50 films of 2023
#27 : Love Life
Japanese director Kôji Fukada has crafted a richly painful and quietly comic human drama filled with tangled and tragic chaotic life twists.
Unsurprisingly, this is one I've never heard of - it's obviously going to be quirky, so now it's just a case of whether it's charmingly quirky or annoyingly so.
At the start, it gives a nice feeling of normality - people going about their daily lives, making food, celebrating birthdays and other normal stuff. But it's fair to say things don't stay that way - I can't really say any more without major spoilers, but it was a total rug-pull. I can tell you that various aspects of grief, responsibility, alienation and redemption are explored and it's done quite sensitively, interestingly and poignantly - the second half of the film is quite strange, but in a mildly pleasingly curious way and you're engaged enough to see how it's all going to end (without any expectations that things will be explained). And (no spoilers) it ends with a couple walking off into the distance with a static camera shot that goes on for a good couple of minutes..
The main characters in the film are a married couple, Taeko (Fumino Kimura) and Jiro (Kento Nagayama), their son Keita (Tetta Shimada) and Taeko's ex-husband Park (Atom Sunada) - the former two are quite buttoned down and unable to express their feelings. The other two are in some ways more open, but Keita is a child and Park is a deaf-mute - which does present a few issues. Fumino takes the plaudits for me - she's the quiet centre of the film but possessing a steely determination which means she isn't going to be pushed around, even if this results in some rather dubious decisions on her part.
It's quite an interesting one because it is obviously a Japanese film with very Japanese sensibilities, but theres a strong element of repression to it which feels like it lends itself to the UK - you could also quite easily imagine either someone like Ken Loach or Mike Leigh making it as a gritty Northern drama or David Lean making it as a '40s romantic drama because it tackles quite universal themes. Admittedly quite slowly, but it does tackle them. I'd struggle to agree with The Guardian's description of it being "quietly comic" though...
So it's both understandable and alien at the same time, and it also both looks familiar and unusual - Koji Fukada has made what feels to be quite a normal film by Japanese standards, whilst overall being somewhat befuddling, because I have to admit I don't really have the faintest idea what was going on or why for large portions of the film. Oh well, c'est la vie!
I've watched far worse films on the list, but I'm struggling to think of a reason to actively recommend it. It's perfectly fine with at least some plot (if not always that easy to follow) and interesting enough to look at - but that doesn't exact scream "must watch" does it? If, despite all that, you fancy it then it's available to stream on BFIPlayer or to rent on Apple or Amazon.
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