PiFan
Last Words
Watashi Koishita (Japan)
A BS-i, Happinet, King Records, GDH production. (International sales:
Tokyo Broadcasting System, Tokyo.) Produced by Andrew Tamon Niwa.
Co-producers, Yukihiko Yamaguchi, Yoshiro Nagata, Yasushi Uchida.
Directed by Ryuichi Hiroki. Screenplay, Chiho Watanabe.
With: Maki Horikata, Shunsuke Kubozuka, Saki Takaoka, Chinami Iwamoto, Takeshi Wakamatsu.
Impending death motivates a teenager to rekindle an imagined romance
of her prepubescent years in "Last Words," a dark and deliberately
paced Japanese meller. Prolific director Ryuichi Hiroki keeps the
viewer engaged, but low-budget pic lacks the emotional oomph of his
thematically connected 2005 film, "It's Only Talk," about a distaff
manic depressive. Fest play for this July release is assured, but pic
will disappoint fans of Hiroki's more sexually charged fare, such as
"M" (2006).
Story begins as Tokyo high schooler Nagisa (Maki
Horikata), 17, learns she has cancer and only three months to live.
Without bothering to inform her father (Takeshi Wakamatsu), Nagisa
hightails it to the seaside village where she was raised. Motivated by
a crush that has survived her six-year absence, and keeping quiet about
her condition, Nagisa seeks out and platonically stays with 25-year-old
Satoru (Shunsuke Kubozuka), a small-town underachiever.
Nagisa's
forced, cheerful exterior is shattered when she realizes the object of
her desire is sleeping with married-but-separated barkeep Eriko (Saki
Takaoka). Apple of Eriko's eye is her 6-year-old daughter, Madoka
(Chinami Iwamoto).
Disturbed by her grandmother's recent death
and by being the centerpiece in her parents' tug of war, Madoka finds a
kindred spirit in the runaway Nagisa. But in her frustration that her
romantic fantasy cannot be realized, Nagisa disrupts this fragile
"family" with potentially devastating results.
Based on an
episode of a popular Nipponese tube series, story is a simple one, but
Hiroki's effective helming gives dramatic impact to the slight
scenario. Minimalism is hardly new to Japanese cinema, but helmer's use
of extended silences in scenes contemplating death are powerful in
their intimate gravitas, and vigorously lift otherwise functional
performances.
Lensing has that flat quality favored by Japanese indies, and pic makes frugal use of real locations. Other credits are pro.
Camera (color), Tomoyuki Mizuguchi; editor, Etsuko Kimura; music,
Koji Endo; art director, Yoichi Sakurai; sound, in Dolby Digital.
Reviewed at PiFan Film Festival, South Korea, July 14, 2007. Running
time: 97 MIN.
© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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