The movie starts with a tape recorder, playing back segments of Ami's time with her mother. There are numerous long, wide-angle shots, lingering over various scenes. Birds, flying in a pattern in the sky. Waves, lapping against the coast. Recurring dreams. Ami, we're told, has always been able to sense the dead. Fragments of her dreams recur, with similar scenes and imagery, haunting Ami. She sees her mother, crying in anguish, before she wakes up. Ami is deeply hurt by the long absence of her mother.
Ami is troubled. Later we see her gift lead to a cache of previously hidden resources, including precious tapes from her mother. She confronts her father, demanding to know the truth. After a tense moment, he relents and lets her go to Japan to seek the truth, beginning with her mother's brother, Uncle Isamu in Tokyo.
Director Nicole Midori Woodford favours long lingering shots- which is used to great effect. There is great beauty, but an undercurrent of immense psychological pain that the Japanese do not express. The scenes exude great natural beauty - raw, somewhat chaotic, but never overtly destructive. That is left to one's imagination, with both subtle and obvious hints. I like that the director respects us enough not to say it out loud. The cast expresses emotion, but not in the exaggerated manner common to Japanese mainstream productions. The humans are often dishevelled, and Ami looks like she she didn't apply any makeup - which is a massive social faux-pas in Japan. This echoes the somewhat haphazard nature of other elements - overgrown weeds, abandoned buildings, discarded beer cans and cigarette butts.
The search is difficult, apparently fruitless. Ami encounters difficulties. After unexpected conflict, there is a sudden scene of breathtaking visual impact. Something connects, both for the characters, and for us. Something unspoken. What is it? I cannot say. How can humans describe something that can barely be sensed, let alone understood? You have to see it for yourself.
Does Ami find her mother? Where is the location depicted in her dreams? The denouement picks up the pace slightly. There is little need to be coy when so many things have been shown.
In summary: a quiet, understated work. Strongly recommend.
Ami is troubled. Later we see her gift lead to a cache of previously hidden resources, including precious tapes from her mother. She confronts her father, demanding to know the truth. After a tense moment, he relents and lets her go to Japan to seek the truth, beginning with her mother's brother, Uncle Isamu in Tokyo.
Director Nicole Midori Woodford favours long lingering shots- which is used to great effect. There is great beauty, but an undercurrent of immense psychological pain that the Japanese do not express. The scenes exude great natural beauty - raw, somewhat chaotic, but never overtly destructive. That is left to one's imagination, with both subtle and obvious hints. I like that the director respects us enough not to say it out loud. The cast expresses emotion, but not in the exaggerated manner common to Japanese mainstream productions. The humans are often dishevelled, and Ami looks like she she didn't apply any makeup - which is a massive social faux-pas in Japan. This echoes the somewhat haphazard nature of other elements - overgrown weeds, abandoned buildings, discarded beer cans and cigarette butts.
The search is difficult, apparently fruitless. Ami encounters difficulties. After unexpected conflict, there is a sudden scene of breathtaking visual impact. Something connects, both for the characters, and for us. Something unspoken. What is it? I cannot say. How can humans describe something that can barely be sensed, let alone understood? You have to see it for yourself.
Does Ami find her mother? Where is the location depicted in her dreams? The denouement picks up the pace slightly. There is little need to be coy when so many things have been shown.
In summary: a quiet, understated work. Strongly recommend.
