SHINSEDAI CINEMA FEST 2009: PEACHES
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 at 8:41PM | Mitchell Tully Shinsedai Cinema Festival: Peaches Programme
Official Website: http://www.momomatsuri.com/index.html
The Peaches Programme is an omnibus of short films collected by Atsuko Ohno into a miniature film festival. The object of the program is to collect some of Japan’s most aspiring female writers/directors to produce films that possessing similar themes. The program selects writers/directors as opposed to selecting their films, and then commission them to create a film with a simple thematic concept, this year's was entitled “kiss.”
"Bunny In Hovel"
Released: 2009
Director: Mayumi Yabe
Writer: Mayumi Yabe
Cinematographer: Tatsuaki Sumi
Runtime: 30 min.
The film centers on a small family made up of a single mother, her youngest son and her mute daughter living out in the countryside. When we are first introduced to the family, the atmosphere is quite tense due to the relationship between the mother’s boyfriend and his strict treatment of the entire family. While the family does not wish to discuss it, they hide several dark secrets encompassing abuse and violence, and when the family’s eldest son returns home after three years, the secrets are revealed to one another.
I really enjoyed this film’s mystique and visuals. Where the audience is well aware of what is transpiring between the members of the household, the film does not feel it needs to address the issues directly until they are nearing the tipping point. While I expected a fairly straightforward social commentary on spousal abuse, I was pleasantly surprised by its major twist, especially in the visuals. The film is originally presented as a simple drama, but the sudden sight of blood creates an interesting contrast.
"Emerger"
Released: 2008
Director: Aki Sato
Writer: Aki Sato
Cinematography: Yutaka Koide
Runtime: 42 min.
"Emerger" follows a housewife (Fusako Urabe) that feels that her husband is no longer concerned with her desires. Because of this, she spends most of her time using online matchmaking sites to find sex partners and then spying on the hotel across the street to make sure the men are worthy. Instead, she meets a gay man (Mitsugu Sato) who is trying to reconnect with his former lover.
The film is an interesting investigation of what makes a person whole and how we survive rejection and injury. In one instance, Fusako’s character is waiting in the hotel for one of her online men but when he sees her, and her broken leg in a cast, he immediately runs off. Overall, I think this is a well-crafted film with a only a few moments where I thought the pacing could have been sped up, but still an interesting film.
"Kushikosuposuto"
Released: 2009
Director: Yumiko Beppu
Writer: Yumiko Beppu
Cinematography: Noriaki Sugihara
Runtime: 25 min.
This film is a very fun and cute comedy about an 8-year-old named Mina (Maria Kawamura) who wants nothing in the world but her very own mother, so she decides to try and convince a nice women to marry her single father. Mina is incredibly adorable, in one scene she is listening to music and playing a game until a women stops to pet her cat, and Mina takes off her headphones and asks the women, “will you be my mummy.” I know I'm very nerdy but I would have laughed even harder if she was wearing a gas mask. Mina is not the Empty Child, but a charming innocent girl that only wants to have a family.
This film is probably my favourite out of the Peaches series for its zany sense of humour, well rounded supporting characters and pocket sized black holes with kaleidoscope visuals, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
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