 Directed by: Momoko Ando
Starring: Hikari Mitsushima as Haru, Eriko Nakamura as Riko and Tasuku Nagaoka as Riyota.
Kakera is certainly a brilliant piece of Japanese cinema when it comes to ideology and concept. However, whether it was the acting or the general movement of the plot, both trying to portray lifelessness and deadness of soul, I couldn’t feel connection to the characters and their emotions and the movie left me unsatisfied, rather than confused or conflicted.
The film tells the story of Haru – a college student who feels trapped in her relationship with her apathetic boyfriend Riyota, who uses her for a sexual relationship only, while having another girlfriend. One day at a coffee shop she meets Riko – a lively prosthetist who expresses an interest in Haru. The two girls slowly begin a relationship and Haru finds herself awaking from the dream state she was in and desiring freedom more and more.
The characters are shaped more throughout their behaviour and body language, rather than their conversations. Riyota's apathy is put across through the distance between him and Haru when walking together, her lifelessness is portrayed by the stillness and emptiness of her facial expressions and her lack of action when being raped by her boyfriend. Haru's revival is brilliantly painted in the fireworks scene where we get the feeling that her soul is bursting in joy as the fireworks themselves.
The concept of freedom is introduced by the dove on the coaster where Riko writes her phone number. Then a mandarin turns into a dove and flies away, which is the first sign of the crawling sensation and desire of Haru to free herself from her boyfriend and relationship. The birds in the beginning are Haru’s freedom that Riyota shoots at; the birds at the end flying away provoke the scream from Haru, who was striving for freedom and ended up trapped in another relationship, rather than finding her own self.
The concept was indeed brilliant. And the symbolisation of the different stages throughout was marvellous. But I didn’t feel it. I couldn’t grasp Haru’s deadness of soul and her numbness whilst just going through life, without even trying to be free or happy. And the ending didn’t come naturally to me – it felt like there has obviously been some kind of inner struggle that caused that scream, but throughout the film no inner struggle was even remotely portrayed by her face and body language, it was rather numbness and lifelessness, which is perfectly drawn in the scene where Haru hits her head and lies there immovable while her boyfriend “has sex with her” or her inaction when Riko kisses her both times.
The movie left me unsatisfied. Perhaps because I can’t imagine myself being trapped and not striving to free myself, perhaps because I can’t grasp the idea of a lack of inner struggle, perhaps because that scream at the end came out of place. However, the idea was admirable. And what it does for the audience at the end is awaken us and make us desire freedom in our own lives, whether from our apathetic boyfriends or our stillness in one place. It has a message and that’s always good for a film. But beyond that, I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. It was all right…
*Image source:
http://kojaproductions.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/kakera_kjp.jpgLabels: cueafs, east asian film, movie reviews |
