カケラ Kakera (A Piece of Our Life, 2009)
This movie reminded me once again how much I love Japanese cinema and how different Japanese movies are from Western movies, especially in the lesbian genre. I should watch more often as most Japanese movies are real powerhouses when you want to feel strong emotions.
This Momoko Ando debut is a roller coaster of powerful emotions thanks to a great story, great (yet different) lead performances, and a wonderful use of silence broken by an extraordinary musical score. An absolutely extraordinary movie, my chap or Miss Momoko goes to Ando for an intense first shot.
Don’t let all my praise confuse you, I strongly suggest you open your mind to this movie not your typical western, a movie with lots of close-ups, stiff facial and body expressions, and slow motion. times; But when it comes to portraying and conveying emotions, the actors are excellent and so is the director who creates great scenes, such as when Riku bursts out and screams all her love for Haru in a smoky izakaya full of anonymous salarymen making an annoying mess of their meal! Honestly, this scene is one of the sickest I’ve seen in ages, a scene that allowed me to feel all kinds of conflicting emotions. Bravo! The film, along with other intense emotional scenes, has given me food for thought as well as some remarkably simple (yet confusing) life and gender philosophy.
Inspired by the Erica Sakurazawaga yuri manga “Love Vibes”, with 80% original material, the film tells the story of Haru, a college student stuck in a last relationship with her cheating boyfriend, according to Momoko Ando in an interview. One day she meets the artificer Riko in a cafe, and a door opens in Haru’s life that will take her by storm. But the development of Riko and Haru’s relationship is not an easy one or goes in a straight line, which is exactly what makes the story so different from what we usually see in lesbian interest movies.
If you know your Japanese cinema, you’ll know that Ando’s first film is reminiscent of Ozu’s style, and she was especially influenced when it came to deciding the compositions and the performances and interactions of the female actors; Still the film is thoroughly contemporary Japanese cinema, most notable for its rare but well-used score by James Iha, once associated with The Smashing Pumpkins.
I have to admit that this movie was a big positive surprise for me, and I hope to find more great Japanese movies, especially if they are completely in the lesbian interest category. A must-see for many readers of this blog, for those averse to ‘different’ lesbian interest stories, and most of all, for those who enjoy good Japanese cinema.
Love the movie came to me after watching so many mediocre movies that didn’t make me want to write about them. Perhaps, after this huge rush of adrenaline, I can write about the huge disappointments I got in highly anticipated movies like The Kids Are All Right and Tourney.
