acting
the more I look at Keiko-san, the more I feel I like her, especially provided I become more and more disappointed in other Japanese actresses of her age. she was cute, as always, but she also did a great job pronouncing words, moving, reacting, doing everything as if she really could not hear a single sound
Tanaka-san who portrayed her mother seems to have a 'mother image', somehow every time I saw her she was playing a mother... as for me, I am completely satisfied with this fact, as I see her as a very credible mother and wife, tender and caring. the 'dialogue' in the end was purely touching, though it was obvious that everything was moving towards that kind of happy ending
Fukushi Seiji did not impress me, though I doubt he could, provided the short time he had in this movie
Tezuka Satomi was just as good as her character demanded, but did not leave any special impression
Toda Naho also had a minor role, but I could not help admiring her look in kimono and her fresh face. 'tis not that her face type is my favourite among all, but she is both beautiful woman and very Japanese-looking
Sasano Takashi's character could be considered a minor one, if not for his brilliant performance. his crying when Rie came to 'speak' to him was so sincere, and his face showed so strong a feeling that I could not help crying myself
music
well, as far as I understand we have several songs by SQUAREHOOD inserted in the film, and I cannot say anything bad about them as background music, but I certainly am not willing to download them and listen to them any longer. such boring songs are never too good as independent artworks
plot
well, though the happy end was inevitable and the story was plain to the utmost, I enjoyed the movie a lot. sometimes we need a fairy-tale-like story which does not make our brain work hard to understand what is going on, but the idea which the movie explains, especially together with the real Rie-san shown, is for sure a good one
what I especially liked in the film was Rie in the film using quotations - though I am not sore if those were the words of the real Rie or someone else's. however that may be, those words were very beautiful. for example
一期一会 - once in a life encounter. that is what my friend told me when we were discussing our first meeting by chance. though this is a short phrase which means a phenomenon, we should not forget the Japanese love for subtext. here the subtext is that every single encounter should be cherished because it can become a very important event of your life
恋は下に心があるから下心。愛は真ん中に心があるから真心 - here we have a rather complicated words play, or better to say - kanji play. the element 'kokoro' - 'heart' - is in the bottom of the 'koi' kanji which means 'love' with the subtext 'infatuation' or 'passion', perhaps, or 'fancy' as it was translated in the subtitles I downloaded; in the 'ai' kanji, which means 'love' as a deeper feeling, the element 'heart' is in the middle - 'tis important that Rie used the word 'mannaka' which means 'the very middle', 'centre', but not simply 'middle'. now if we put the kanji for 'bottom' and 'heart' together, we see the word 'shitagokoro' - 'secret intention', and if we put the 'very' from 'the very middle' together with 'heart' we get the word 'magokoro' - 'sincerity' or 'devotion'. this is Rie's way to explain the difference between 'koi' and 'ai'
大切なのは、どれだけたくさんのことではなく、どれだけ心をこめたか - 'tis not important how many things you do, but how much heart you put in it
隣に誰かがいるだけで”憂い”は”優しさ”に変わります - again we have a 'kanji play'. 'urei' means 'distress' and 'sadness', and 'yasashisa' means 'kindness' and 'tenderness'. if we look closely on the kanji, the second one consists of the 'man' radical in the left and the same elements as in 'urei' in the right. that is why Rie said 'just if someone is near you, sadness turns into kindness'
辛 － 幸 - well, this is a widespread comparison. for example, the song 'tsurai purasu ichi' by ONE OK ROCK describes this two kanji, the first one meaning 'hard' or 'bitter', and the second - 'happiness', and that the difference between them is only one stroke in the upper part, which is the kanji for 'one' - 'ichi'
辛いのは幸せの途中です - 'bitterness is on the way to happiness', that is what Rie wrote after showing the previous trick with 'tsurai'
立って半畳、寝て一畳 - this is a very Japanese saying... I spent quite a few minutes in order to understand it, as the meaning of it is far from the words used. to make it clear, it means that a person can be whatever great, and ask for a lot of space, but he only takes half of a tatami when he stands, and a tatami when he sleeps. the usual conclusion made out of this fact is that a person should not ask for much, but think of his own place
well, I believe I wrote down all the quotations that were there. at least, the important ones
conclusion
a nice and kind movie to watch, and I would even recommend it for family or company watching
