Release date: November 8, 2014 Length: 112 minutes Director: Yoshihiro Fukagawa
Main Cast:
Yui Aragaki as Saya
Yo Oizumi as Yutaro
Aoi Nakamura as Sano
Ryo Ishibashi as Yutaro's father
Sumiko Fuji as Onatsu
Rika Fukushima as Erika
Kuriko Namino as Kushiro
Don't know if any of you recall me saying it but have mentioned a few times that Wednesdays are by far the slowest day of the week for things to post about. All the weekly mags have come out, no films open nor are screenings usually held on this day either, really not a day to post about new happenings.
But on the plus side it's always given me a chance to catch up on some things I've wanted to post about it but don't always have the time during other days. One thing is reviews, they take a while to do so it's nice to have that day where I can sit back and catch up on films like this one. I've actually had this movie for a few months but just got around to watching it the last two days, not a must watch but still found it to be quite an enjoyable film, could have been ten minutes shorter but besides that would recommend viewing it.
Gakky plays the role of Saya, whose husband Yutaro has just passed away in an traffic accident as the film opens. The pair hadn't been married all too long but they have or Saya has now that she's alone a four month son named Yuusuke. Saya had met her husband at a small theater where he was a rakugo performer and a bad one at that, as a matter of fact no one int he audience would laugh at his jokes except for Saya. And the reason she laughed wasn't because Yutaro was funny but because he tried so hard which was good enough for her.
After one performance the pair happen to meet and find they have a few things in common, the main one being they're both alone with no parents. Saya's had died when she was very young, Yutaro didn't explain about how his parents died but the truth soon comes out. It was a whirlwind romance with the two getting married shortly after they met followed by the birth of their son Yuusuke. However four months after he was born a truck ran over Yuraro as he was crossing the street, now Saya is alone once again.
At the funeral something totally unexpected happened and that was the appearance of Yutaro's father! That shocked Saya to no end, why hadn't Yutaro told her that his father was still alive? His mother had died many years prior, since then Yutaro had disowned his father and he eventually ran away to train to be a rakugo performer. He hadn't said anything to Saya as he never expected to see or hear from his father again, as far as Yutaro was concerned his father was dead.
At the funeral Rutaro's father, who was a very wealthy man, wanted to take Yuusuke away from Saya to raise the boy and eventually take over his business. Saya wanted no part of that and managed to escape to the small village of Sasara, there she could live in her deceased aunt's house which now belonged to Saya.
Before I go on any further there's one major thing which needs to be brought up and that has to do with Yutaro still being somewhat alive. At the funeral he warned Saya about his father and told her to flee and go to a place where she couldn't be found. Yutaro's spirit was still hovering on Earth, he could possess a person for a short time and then could communicate with Saya. Of course at first she didn't believe it but eventually did as he ended up taking over the body of five people in the movie but could only stay in that body for a few hours. Also Yutaro could only take over a body of someone who could see his spirit which wasn't too many people.
Life seemed to be going fine for Saya and her baby in Sasara, it's a very quiet place with an older population who tended to look after Saya and her child. She had no plans for the future though as far as making a living, she did have the house to stay in but soon she needed a job to support her and Yuusuke. Every now and again Yutaro would pop up in another body to visit Saya and to make sure things are going well, we learn during one of these visits why his spirit is still hovering on Earth. That reason is because he's there to watch over Saya until she can get her two feet on the ground to support herself and their son though he didn't tell her the reason he was there until he finally does leave the planet.
That peaceful life that Saya is living comes to an abrupt halt as Yutaro's father finds out where Saya is living and still has plans to take Yuusuke to raise by himself. Soon after he finds out where she lives he visits her, the two of them get to know each other a bit better and Saya starts thinking that he's not a bad person. Those thoughts didn't last for long as when Saya had left Yuusuke and Yutaro's father alone for a few minutes he grabbed the baby, jumped in his car and fled Sasara!
That 'kidnapping' plan soon backfired as unknown to everyone Yutaro at this time was occupying the body of Yuusuke and though a baby was still able to send a garbled text message to Saya. He sent the message from a hospital as Yuusuke had developed a fever and Yutaro's father had rushed him straight there. Saya shows up at the hospital and snatches back Yuusuke, she states regardless of what happens to her in the future she will never, never give up Yuusuke. Yutaro's father has a bit of change of heart and relents to Saya's wishes.
Mentioned in the beginning that the film was about ten minutes too long, that's because after that last scene Yutaro is about to depart this planet as it looks like Saya will now be able to take care of herself and the baby. But Yutaro doesn't depart immediately and there's a few flashback scenes of him and his father growing up, also Yutaro was able to see a few things about his father that he never knew about. When Yutaro's mother had died his father didn't come to her bedside, Yutaro could never forgive his father for that and he left home somewhat soon after that.
However his father wasn't that bad of a person, he was hurting quite badly after his wife died but never showed his feelings to anyone. Yutaro learned though about what kind of man his father really was, deep down he was a good person but just didn't know how to express himself properly or do the right thing. It wasn't a bad scene but kind of dragged a bit, much longer than it should have been.
And that brings us for the most part to the conclusion of the film, Saya goes back to living quietly in Sasara and even has made up with Yutaro's father, think he won't let anything bad ever happen to Saya and his grandson.
Mentioned it wasn't a must watch but found the film much better than I expected, it was enjoyable, serious but not overly so and except for that one scene near the end the pacing was quite good. To me if you can watch a movie a few times then that means it's a solid film so will have to say this is a solid film as I plan on watching it a few more times. As far as a rating goes will give it a 8.5/10 which to me is a very good rating, better than most films from the last few years.
What's the norm for me is taking many screenshots of a film or drama, especially if I enjoyed it and this film was no exception as there's quite a few of them. Have a few more here but check out the next post for a huge amount of Gakky screenshots from the movie.
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