3 weeks ago
In Tokyo Story, possibly Yasujirō Ozu’s astir celebrated movie, an aged Japanese mates brave nan bustle of nan hectic superior to sojourn their big children. Writer-director Kōji Fukada’s latest feature, his first successful Competition astatine Cannes, is simply a meticulously elaborate reversal that flips that premise successful an intriguing way. Unusually for a movie astir a mini municipality — inasmuch arsenic Nagi tin moreover beryllium described arsenic a municipality — Nagi Notes is yet a communicative astir individual look and liberation, astir learning to find your ain abstraction and owning it alternatively than moving disconnected to nan large metropolis only to find yourself mislaid successful nan crowd.
The communicative originates pinch Yuri (Shizuka Ishibashi), a blase metropolis architect, stepping disconnected a autobus and instantly attracting nan attraction of a funny young state boy, Keita (Kiyora Fujiwara). Keita escorts Yuri on nan short region to nan location of Yoriko (Takako Matsu), Yuri’s erstwhile sister-in-law. In opposition to Yuri, Yoriko lives a very humble existence, maintaining a semi-functional dairy workplace while pursuing a profession arsenic a talented sculptor of life studies. While nan 2 women are catching up, Yoriko asks Yuri if she would for illustration to airs for her — “I for illustration to cognize nan models I sculpt,” she reasons.
Yoriko accepts and stays for a fewer days extra, immersing herself successful Nagi’s hermetically sealed world. We turn utilized to nan dull sounds of gunfire coming from nan section Self-Defense Force camp, and nan charmingly earnest regular power reports that support residents up to day pinch nan upwind and that play nan aforesaid instrumental portion of euphony whenever personification section dies. If it weren’t for nan calendar, clip would simply suffer each meaning; indeed, erstwhile nan TV group lights up pinch news of a warfare successful Ukraine, it feels for illustration a bulletin from nan moon.
But Nagi isn’t rather what it seems connected nan aboveground — nan municipality is besides location to nan wildly modern and seemingly incongruous Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art, which nan locals and sightseers admit successful adjacent measure. Meanwhile, during her stay, Yuri becomes adjacent to 2 section boys, Keita (Kiyora Fujiwara) and Haruki (Waku Kawaguchi). Keita is simply a budding artist, who talks of Edward Hopper successful hushed tones; Haruki is his champion friend, a subject kid, precocious enrolled astatine Keita’s school, whose begetter sounds nan power reports.
Yuri’s extended sojourn proves to beryllium an eye-opening experience, not only because Yoriko opens up astir her little dalliance pinch big-city life (and nan doomed emotion matter that drove her home) but besides because nan 2 boys driblet a bombshell that takes nan deceptive, so-far sleepy communicative into a wholly unexpected direction. Yuri, possibly serving arsenic an avatar for nan director, takes each of this successful her stride, and her knowing is nan psyche of nan movie: This isn’t conscionable a glib morality communicative harking backmost to nan bully aged days, pinch profound life lessons learned aft spending half an hr successful nan countryside, it’s a much nuanced reflection connected what a elemental life really intends — says Yoriko, “I mightiness beryllium alone, but I’m not isolated.”
Indeed, Yoriko comes to correspond nan bosom and psyche of Fukada’s film. The head intelligibly feels a kinship pinch her, and his camera dwells admiringly connected her extraordinarily analyzable process of sculpting, starting pinch hand-moulded clumps of clay. Like a moviemaker, Yoriko turns group into art, and vice-versa; astatine nan aforesaid time, she is besides acutely alert location are much practical, earthly matters that request to beryllium wrangled, for illustration nan stray cattle that goes missing successful a thunder storm.
Since nary genre really exists to accommodate it, Nagi Notes could fittingly beryllium described arsenic scenic cinema; slow for judge but revealing successful nan aforesaid measurement a slow train tin really unfastened up nan passing landscape. LGTB+-positive successful a astir unexpected and quality way, it’s a humble movie that charms by stealth and understatement, and, contempt nan slenderness of its premise, plants seeds of thought that proceed to sprout agelong aft it reaches its last destination.
Title: Nagi Notes
Festival: Cannes (Competition)
Director/Screenwriter: Kōji Fukada
Cast: Takako Matsu, Shizuka Ishibashi, Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Waku Kawaguchi, Kiyora Fujiwara, Sawako Fujima
Sales: MK2 Films
Running time: 1 hr 50 mins
