Ever since I saw "Yentown" in a store and decided to buy and watch it, I felt mesmerized by the works of Shunji Iwai.
Japan released some very, very beautiful and deep movies in that time after the bubble years and before the recent years that saw a lot of shows or movies from Japan flood Netflix.
This is one of those movies from that partially forgotten, but beautiful era.
There's not much plot to talk about, nor is there even much talking (at least in the first half of the movie) and it is quite "Japanese". Western viewer might not understand some behavior or why our female lead doesn't act more "aggressive".
But that's what I love about those kind of movies. They can help to give you an idea of a different culture, a different approach at love, a different way of flirting.
The first half of the movie shows our lead as a very shy, timid young woman who doesn't seem very confident and who even seems lonely at times.
However, after her attempt to reach out to her neighbor seemingly failed, but eventually doesn't, things start to turn around in all aspects of her life.
The ending isn't a real "end", but the last couple of minutes put a smile on my face.
Iwai creates those beautiful every day situations that COULD happen in real life (although sadly, they never do, at least to me) and that are oddly sweet, romantic and beautiful. And those situations aren't necessarily "romantic" in a usual way. But Iwai finds a way to show us the beauty in the mundane.
Just like Yentown, April Story is also beautifully shot. The Cherryblossoms, the rain...and yet it remains a slightly grainy look that I love about this particular time period that give me a yearning for a past time in Japan I never actually experienced, but that he makes me wish I had.
Japan released some very, very beautiful and deep movies in that time after the bubble years and before the recent years that saw a lot of shows or movies from Japan flood Netflix.
This is one of those movies from that partially forgotten, but beautiful era.
There's not much plot to talk about, nor is there even much talking (at least in the first half of the movie) and it is quite "Japanese". Western viewer might not understand some behavior or why our female lead doesn't act more "aggressive".
But that's what I love about those kind of movies. They can help to give you an idea of a different culture, a different approach at love, a different way of flirting.
The first half of the movie shows our lead as a very shy, timid young woman who doesn't seem very confident and who even seems lonely at times.
However, after her attempt to reach out to her neighbor seemingly failed, but eventually doesn't, things start to turn around in all aspects of her life.
The ending isn't a real "end", but the last couple of minutes put a smile on my face.
Iwai creates those beautiful every day situations that COULD happen in real life (although sadly, they never do, at least to me) and that are oddly sweet, romantic and beautiful. And those situations aren't necessarily "romantic" in a usual way. But Iwai finds a way to show us the beauty in the mundane.
Just like Yentown, April Story is also beautifully shot. The Cherryblossoms, the rain...and yet it remains a slightly grainy look that I love about this particular time period that give me a yearning for a past time in Japan I never actually experienced, but that he makes me wish I had.