Co-presented by the Yanai Initiative for Globalizing Japanese Humanities
It’s the dog days of summer vacation. Up to no good, a group of three wily young friends discover a decrepit house and the old coot who lives there all alone. They begin to spy on him, expecting to find his corpse when he dies. But soon, as they learn the sad story behind his present wretchedness, the boys develop a touching bond with the old-timer. They even help replant his overgrown garden. Shinji Somai’s follow-up to his acclaimed Moving is a comic spectacle of movement and play and a stirring contemplation on time’s ravages and delights. Evoking other preteen anarchist masterpieces like Typhoon Club and P.P. Rider, the film is another testament to Somai’s singular ability to enter into the unruly world of children, using his liberated long takes to stir up the energies of a raucous ensemble of first-time performers.
TRT: 113 min
"Maybe the last great master of Japanese film history." —Kiyoshi Kurosawa, director of Cure and Pulse
"The missing link between the end of the studio system of Japan and the rise of independent filmmaking” —Shigehiko Hasumi, critic
"Shinji Somai is one of the most personal and original Japanese filmmakers, and a master whose work has been almost completely neglected outside Japan." —Chris Fujiwara, critic and programmer
"[An] unfairly forgotten coming-of-age movie... Maintains a charming tone of a casual if eventful summer through a gentle guitar score and luminous, green-heavy cinematography." —Jean-Baptiste de Vaulx, Cinescope
"I can say with absolute conviction that no Japanese filmmaker makes a film without being conscious of Shinji Somai’s existence. That is how significant Somai's presence is in the history of Japanese cinema… For anyone who wants to see a movie that has the power to change and sustain your life, I urge you to see Somai’s films." —Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director of Drive My Car and Evil Does Not Exist
(Available to download after screening date)