Well I did go see the movie this past Saturday, and I can honestly say I enjoyed it. I don't think it's going to be one of those movies that will be a big favorite of mine, but I still think it was worth seeing it in theaters and would not mind picking up a DVD of it, whenever that comes out. Though I can't imagine not needing to make sure that I have some tissues at hand when I do watch it.
I have to say I am impressed by Morimoto Shintarou's acting. Usually when I watch dramas or movies with Johnny's I tend to see them as themselves and not so much their character, but I didn't have that issue so much with this movie. MoriShin did well as Souta and I think Johnny's has really found a good lead with him, though they're going to have to wait some time before he can start starring regularly in anything, as young lead roles are harder to come by compared to lead roles for adults. Which is probably why Yamada Ryosuke has only been getting a few roles a year as he can't quite pull off high school senior yet, which is the bulk of dramas and movies set in high schools call for.
Since I do want to talk about the movie, but also don't want to spoil it for those who want to avoid spoilers, I am going to white text the spoilers. So if you want to read them then highlight the area under the spoiler mark, while the rest can just ignore the big white space.
*SPOILER*
I was a bit surprised to see the opening scenes set in the modern day but as the story unfolded it made sense to have the modern day storyline, as it gave the reasoning for the telling of the story of Souta and Chibi. The modern day storyline follows an elderly Sayo, who has her grand daughter living with her. Sayo gets a larger envelope hand delivered by an elderly man one day, her grand daughter was the only one at home at the time though. Sayo finds a story written on very old paper and it's the story of Souta, her childhood friend. The old man later in the movie shows up again and it's discovered that he is Souta's younger half-brother, as they share the same father but had different mothers. He found Sayo as the story his father wrote stops before it says what happened to Souta and he wants to learn what happened to this older brother he has never known. Sayo does tell him the end of the story which leads to much weeping from the audience as this is the final part of the movie. But I think the ending is a bit brighter with this storyline, as it shows that Souta is still affecting people with his story long after he's gone.
For the story set in the 1930's it goes along as little episodes/adventures at first loosely strung together. But as the story progresses things that happened earlier come back in their consequences later on, so in a way it's rather slice of life. But Souta and Sayo's friendship is sweet even though it's not easy for them to maintain with outside pressures, like Sayo's classmates and father, coming in to try to keep them apart. By the end of the film those 'foes' have come around, though it's unfortunately a little to late in the case of Sayo's father. Though the man wasn't completely heartless, just one of those cases where 'father thinks he knows best but really doesn't'. In fact he even asked Souta if he was okay when he last say him, and I'm sure if Souta didn't brush things off and mentioned he could use some help Sayo's father would have done something for him. Perhaps not much, but at least something.
Of course there is definitely some elements of childhood crush in Souta and Sayo's relationship. Souta seems to get jealous a couple of times when he sees Sayo with boys from her class, even though she never looks happy to be with them, as it's her father that requested them to be there, not her. But Souta doesn't seem to be the type to voice his unhappiness so he doesn't say anything about it. The first time after a bit of pouting and trying to ignore her, Souta forgets easily about it when she tells him about going on an adventure together. The second time there's unfortunately no chance for them to make up so easily.
I really enjoyed the parts with Souta and his father, even though they were quite brief and sadly Souta never did learn the clown he thought was 'God' was really just his dad. It's a pity Souta's grandfather was so against him, or perhaps Souta would have had someone there for him after his grandfather's death.
And I know I've alluded to it pretty heavily already, but yes, Souta does die, with Chibi by his side. They ended up getting stuck out in the cold during a winter storm and are found frozen and dead together. Though I am amazed that for someone who froze to death Souta didn't look like he was touched by frostbite at all. But maybe you can chalk up that little inconsistency to think that you were seeing it all through Sayo's memory so maybe she forgot that while he looked like he was just sleeping he should have looked more pale and a bit blue.
The saddest thing about the death is that it seems like it could have been avoided if just the smallest difference was made. Like I mentioned before that exchange with Souta and Sayo's father happened not long beforehand, and perhaps if Souta was more willing to make a plea to see Sayo or even just simply say that he was having trouble living on his own this could have turned out quite differently. But I think with seeing that Sayo was with her classmates again at her house probably had a part of why he didn't say anything. As before he more or less reacted the same and chose to keep a distance from her, maybe thinking that since he was poor he couldn't measure up to her classmates. But perhaps that's just speculation from my part, but it's how I read the scenes where he saw Sayo with his classmates.
But I guess Souta's death is what really drives the message of being kind to others and how important it is to give people a chance home. Which I think is a good message to remember during this season that to many is a season of giving and sharing to not only loved ones but also to those that are in need.
*SPOILER*
I feel a bit sorry for the movie having to open up the same weekend as the new One Piece movie. Especially since that movie has received an incredible amount of hype and publicity that Snow Prince had no chance of matching. I don't think I've seen the numbers for Snow Prince but from the media reports about One Piece: Strong World it wasn't the number one movie of the weekend, and most likely won't be for the week unless it starts breaking Japanese box office records as well. But the official site for Snow Prince is calling it a 'big hit', so it must being doing well regardless. And I hope it continues to do well.
No comments:
Post a Comment