SYNOPSIS:
The
latest remake of the epoch-making novel, after 40 years of
its original publication, starring rising star Riisa Naka
and directed by Maasaki Taniguchi. When Kazuko is left comatose
after a car accident, her daughter, Akari is determined to
time-leap to the 1970s, with the help of Kazuoka’s formula
of time travel, to search for Kazuo, whom Akari believe will
help Kazuoka regain her consciousness. In her quest to find
Kazuo, Akari befriends Ryota and love blossoms, despite the
fact that she must return to the future…
MOVIE
REVIEW:
This latest screen incarnation of the popular Yasutaka Tsutsui novel first published way back in 1967 isn’t as much an adaptation as it is a reinvention of the original story. While Tsutsui’s novel was the story of a high school girl named Kasuko who stumbles upon time travel accidentally and falls in love with a time traveller, Masaaki Taniguchi’s feature debut here has its titular character Kasuko’s daughter Akari (Riisa Naka).
Akari gets her time-travelling gig when her mother tasks her to deliver a message to her young lover during her junior high days, Kazuo, by travelling back to 1972. But she clumsily ends up in 1974 and in between searching for the already-graduated Kazuo, befriends Ryota (Akiyoshi Nakao), an amateur filmmaker of low-fi sci-fi films. As significant as Akari’s search for Kazuo in the film is the budding friendship between Akari and Ryota, as Akari puts up at Ryota’s apartment and becomes an assistant for Ryota’s homemade films.
Taniguchi adopts a leisurely unhurried pace in telling his story, so be prepared to be patient if you are intending to catch this- but he rewards those willing to afford the time and effort with a tender and poignant romance. Yes, that’s what eventually happens between Akari and Ryota- though you probably can guess that there isn’t going to be a happy ending between the two lovebirds separated by the gulf of time.
Just as affecting is Akari’s discovery of her mother’s younger self- the former barely recognising the latter when she first sets eyes on the svelte high school beauty that would become her mother- as well as her understanding of her father’s absence from her growing up years. The latter’s identity is a mystery Taniguchi only reveals at the end, but the combination of these twin story arcs highlights the significance of perspective, which Akari gains by being an observer of the dilemmas and circumstances facing her parents and their decisions in their past.
Despite its merits, Taniguchi’s film remains lacking in several aspects, chiefly its overly lavish use of time. There is hardly any urgency to the proceedings, which makes the two-hour plus film feel longer than it should. The special effects here also leave much to be desired, especially the time-travel sequences- luckily then that Taniguchi avoids the multiple time-travelling strands in the 2006 animated cult classic caper that this film seems almost a companion piece to. Naka, who had voiced Kasuko in that film, does an adequate job in the lead role as Akari, but her performance lacks verve that would have made her character more compelling.
Still, the restrained approach that Taniguchi takes with the bittersweet human drama in the film proves rewarding enough to recommend this for fans of Tsutsui’s novel, as well as the 2006 animation. This won’t be memorable enough to stand out from the countless “Time Traveller” adaptations, but it is a respectable attempt at distilling the spirit of the original novel into an original story.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
NIL.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0, and is largely sufficient for this dialogue-heavy movie. Visual transfer is clean, but possesses a washed out look thanks to the setting of the film.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Gabriel Chong
Posted on 6 February 2011
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