Director: Iwai Shunji Duration: 72 minutes
Iwai Shunji is a fascinating director. He is able to hold the viewer's interest during films that last for over two hours, and can also engross the viewer in an emotionally intense film that lasts only 47 minutes. I have thoroughly enjoyed _All About Lily Chou Chou_, _Love Letter_, _April Story_, and _Undo_, so I was looking quite forward to viewing _Picnic_. Also, being a huge fan of Asano Tadanobu, I was looking forward to watching one of his earlier films. I was definitely not disappointed.
_Picnic_ focuses on the lives of three mental patients: Coco, played by Chara, Tsumuji, played by Asano Tadanobu, and Satoru, played by Koichi Hashizume. Each individual has their own personal demons and suffer not only mental torment, but also are mistreated by the nurses. Their only solace is to walk along the wall of the asylum and view the world they are hidden from. The only person on the outside who is moderately kind to them is a Catholic Priest who gives Tsumuji a bible. Tsumuji reads the bible and is comforted by the fact that the world is soon going to come to an end on July 10th of that year. He was actually looking at the date the book was first published. The three friends decided to pass the walls of the asylum on that day and welcome in the destruction of the earth with a picnic.
This is a great little film. Not being a fan of Japanese pop music my only knowledge concerning the singer Chara are the facts that she is married to Asano Tadanobu and that she has acted in two of Iwai Shunji's films, the one I am writing on here and _Swallowtail_. However, I think that she did a fine job of acting, and the times in which she is racked by mental torment are quite moving. Asano Tadanobu's acting is extraordinary. I felt my heart tightening when he reveals his darkest secrets to Coco. Great film. Check it out!
Iwai Shunji is a fascinating director. He is able to hold the viewer's interest during films that last for over two hours, and can also engross the viewer in an emotionally intense film that lasts only 47 minutes. I have thoroughly enjoyed _All About Lily Chou Chou_, _Love Letter_, _April Story_, and _Undo_, so I was looking quite forward to viewing _Picnic_. Also, being a huge fan of Asano Tadanobu, I was looking forward to watching one of his earlier films. I was definitely not disappointed.
_Picnic_ focuses on the lives of three mental patients: Coco, played by Chara, Tsumuji, played by Asano Tadanobu, and Satoru, played by Koichi Hashizume. Each individual has their own personal demons and suffer not only mental torment, but also are mistreated by the nurses. Their only solace is to walk along the wall of the asylum and view the world they are hidden from. The only person on the outside who is moderately kind to them is a Catholic Priest who gives Tsumuji a bible. Tsumuji reads the bible and is comforted by the fact that the world is soon going to come to an end on July 10th of that year. He was actually looking at the date the book was first published. The three friends decided to pass the walls of the asylum on that day and welcome in the destruction of the earth with a picnic.
This is a great little film. Not being a fan of Japanese pop music my only knowledge concerning the singer Chara are the facts that she is married to Asano Tadanobu and that she has acted in two of Iwai Shunji's films, the one I am writing on here and _Swallowtail_. However, I think that she did a fine job of acting, and the times in which she is racked by mental torment are quite moving. Asano Tadanobu's acting is extraordinary. I felt my heart tightening when he reveals his darkest secrets to Coco. Great film. Check it out!