Although I have seen one other film from director Kohei Igarashi (the very enjoyable The Night I Swam), I cannot say that I picked this film based on their input. No, I just picked this film, yet again, on a completely random basis. I'm glad I did though, and I can now recommend it to others.
Everything begins with a sequence that appears to make the title seem ironic. Sano (Hiroki Sano) and Miyata (Yoshinori Miyata) are two friends who are spending time at a resort hotel. Sano is desperate to find a red baseball cap that was left there years ago, something that is now more precious to him after the recent death of his wife, Nagi (Nairu Yamamoto). Some more time is spent showing us Sano looking for the hat, as well as mourning his loss, but then we jump back about five years. This presents us with the first meeting of Sano and Nagi, an encounter that we know won't lead to them being super happy forever, but maybe they'll think it's possible for a while.
Co-written by Igarashi and Kochi Kubodera, this is one of those films I am going to annoyingly refer to as beautiful and delicate. It starts off like something that may be hard to stick with, but the time jump allows for a relief from the dark clouds, and a number of seemingly minor moments help to recontextualise everything that was shown in the opening act. It may not be the most quotable film, nor is it the most beautiful or technically audacious work, but it works brilliantly because of the sweet and believable chemistry between Sano and Yamamoto, making it very easy to understand the highs and lows that the main character goes through.
Without forcing viewers to stay right in between the leads, Igarashi makes use of their infectious happiness and easygoing rapport to convey the strong connection obviously developing between them. As they walk through the onscreen environment, things feel brighter and more alive, another benefit of having seen those same places viewed through a haze of grief.
Sano has a bit more to do with his performance, showing the bad and the good, and he does very well, but Yamamoto handles the more important pivotal role. She's believably sweet and lovely, making you retro-actively feel that void you didn't initially realise was so prevalent throughout the start of the film. Miyata does fine in support, but the other person I have to mention is Hoàng Nhu Quýnh, playing a Vietnamese chambermaid who emphasises the carelessness anyone can have when inadvertently affecting the lives of others, in even the smallest "butterfly effect" way.
The pacing is perfect, the tone blossoms into something truly wonderful with every subsequent scene, and there are emotional arrows fired that should pierce even the stoniest heart. It may be forgotten soon enough, considering the sheer number of movies that are all vying for your attention every week nowadays, but I hope one or two people, like myself, keep doing their bit to remind others to check it out.
8/10
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