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Over the years, Hillary Rodham (later Clinton) would climb the US
American political ladder almost to the top (which I'm sure you knew), but
this movie is set in 1969, and 21 year old Hillary (Addison Timlin) has
only just graduated from college, and has accepted a summer job at a fish
cannery in Valdez, Alaska, mostly because she wanted to experience
sunshine all day and all night first hand. However, she isn't happy at the
job, as she finds it impossible to connect with her co-workers let alone
make friends - and she's bad at her job as well, so much so that she's
fired eventually. But on her way home from work she meets two Japanese
men, Ryohei (TJ Kayama) and Mitsuru (Toshiji Takeshima), whom she relates
to since they are outcasts just like her, and with whom she eventually
goes for drinks. She discusses her political ideas with the men, but it
soon becomes clear that she's full of ambition but lacks experience and
ideals - and she's also still very naive, even for her age, failing to
realize that the two men initially want to get into her panties. It's only
eventually that she really warms up to Ryohei, and eventually even gets
intimate with him, but while he actually falls in love with her, all the
conversations they have, which also for the first time in her life
confront Hillary with another culture, shape her political views and
ideology ... Despite this being about Hillary Clinton, this
film doesn't even claim to be based on a true story, and actually calls
itself an un-bio-pic - which doesn't say it doesn't try to make a point
about the woman, just not in the traditional way. Instead it's more of a
meditation on her initial spark and early growth as a politician, told in
the guise of a character piece that (without proof) tells the audience
what might have happened. And thanks to its unexcited way of storytelling,
its arthouse affinity, and also its wonderful and wonderfully unusual
Alaskan backdrops, this works beautifully, and also universally, as no
matter what you think about the woman, you'll very probably be touched by
this film in one way or another.
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