previously published on Asian Movie Pulse
The
Japanese film producer / writer / director Kei Chikaura
tackles the topics of immigration, integration, sense of family and
food in his feature debut "Complicity". The film premiered
last year in the Discovery competition of Toronto, was shown in Busan
and won the audience award at Tokyo FILMeX before its European
premiere at the Culinary Cinema sidebar of this year's Berlinale.
Immigrating
to Japan sounds like a better idea than it actually is. The economy
is basically stagnating for a very long period of time and the
immigration and integration policies are quite strict. Most of the
people from the neighbouring countries interested in living and
working there stand no chance to obtain a visa so, if they want to,
they have to explore some illegal options like using a fake identity.
One
of those people is a Chinese citizen Cheng-liang (Lu Yulai)
whose idea was to make some money there and to go back to his
homeland, re-open his late father's car repair shop and be there for
his ailing mother and ageing grandmother. As we see in flashbacks
Chikaura throws abundantly over the course of the film, the life is
hard for them in China and they had to borrow a lot of money for the
sake of financing his move to Japan. On the positive side, he is
determined to pay it all back with his earnings once he gets the job.
We
first see him together with some of his friends and compatriots
stealing some electronic equipment in order to purchase a fake ID.
Unlike them who are interested only in quick cash and staying under
the radar of ever-vigilant immigration police, he prefers honest
work. He gets his chance with his fake identity in the form of
assistant cook job at a provincial restaurant specialized in
traditional soba noodles, working under an old chef Hiroshi (Tatsuya
Fuji from "In the Realm of Senses" fame) and his
waitress daughter. This is not what he originally had in mind, but
the conditions are good, the people there are treating him like a
family member and he is willing to work hard and learn, even though
he still has to be vigilant and stay out of trouble. To do that, he
has to become someone else, someone named Liu...
Thematic
complexity of the film is contrasted by simple, almost minimal style
of Chikaura's filmmaking. Filming in usually somewhat longer, yet
measured, takes and relying on hand-held, but still not shaky
camerawork by Yukata Yamazaki (whose recent credits include
Hirokazu Koreeda's "After the Storm" and Naomi
Kawase's "Still the Water"), Chikaura insists on
beautiful naturalism. The pacing is deliberately moderate, which
suits the build-up of the characters and their relationships and also
draws the viewers towards the long process of making of soba, which
requires skill, passion and patience.
The
chemistry between all the cast members is exquisite and the discreet,
toned-down acting style suits the film well. Lu and Fuji, who both
worked with Chikaura on his shorts in the past, are especially
compelling, doing exactly what the director wants them to and
infusing the film with the sense of genuine warmth.
The general tone, the style and the acting even justify some moments
of sentimentality Chikaura occasionally goes for, blending them
smoothly with seriousness of the topic and good measure in approach.
"Complicity" might not be a spectacular film, but it is a
good and well-measured one, with a potential side effect of getting
hungry for a bowl of soba and some genuine humane emotion.
No comments:
Post a Comment