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Impossible to Imagine
Japan 2019
produced by Hamish Downie for Where Next Japan
directed by Felicity Tillack
starring Yukiko Ito, William Yagi, Kazuya Moriyama, Akira Nishide, Marika Naito, Koko Price, Michael Laurent, Stacey Harra, Hugh Hassey, Aranyani Ghorai, Brendan Howells, Yoke Mun Lim, Hirokazu Hosogawa, Emi Tsugawa, Beth Palmer, Gordon Hyppolite, Luke Heerin-Fuji, Robin Rauner, Benjamin Esterle, Keanu Price, Harumi Shimazaki, Felicity Tillack
written by Felicity Tillack, music by Hanako Ward, Jeremy Lim
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Ami (Yukiko Ito) runs a failing kimono rental, failing because she
sticks too stubbornly to the traditional ways out of respect to her father
(Kazuya Moriyama), the nominal owner of the shop, and her dead mother who
has handed reigns of the shop over to her. Ami's sister Mayuko's (Marika
Naito) tea shop meanwhile has recently surged when she moved to a more
closely populated area, and has opened for tourists, something that's
still a swear word in Ami's ears. However, Mayuko brings Ami together with
her business consultant Hayato (William Yagi), a man of Australian and
Japanese heritage, and against all odds, he and Ami develop an instant
liking to one another - which is not to say they don't clash, as his ideas
to lure in tourists are at first felt as insults by her ... but seeing the
alternative is giving up the shop, and the two soon re-design it as a
studio where tourists can be photographed in traditional Japanese outfits.
Hayato spends more time at the shop as he really ought to, as Ami really
needs someone to ease her into all of this, and the two soon learn from
one another, she, steeped in Japanese tradition, he torn between his
Japanese and Australian roots and not feeling completely at home here or
there - but eventually of course, romance blossoms. That romance however
seems to be built on thin ice as they're both stubborn and have
conflicting views, not only but also concerning the shop. So is their
relationship doomed from the start?
Now of course, having an interest in Japanese culture or at
least being curious helps with appreciating this movie, but while Japanese
culture sure is the catalyst of the film's plot and instrumental to its
story arc, the plot itself is much more universal, a love story about
overcoming differences, set in front of beautiful backdrops that seem lush
and humble at the same time, with the direction always preferring the
intimate over any spectacle, and the leads having real chemistry with one
another. That said, neither Japanese culture nor romance as such are
everybody's cup of tea, but if you give it a try you're sure to be
rewarded.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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