The Cowards Who Looked to the Sky (2012)

This one is a dark, painful movie with two story arcs that interconnects one another. The first, which is the main story that moves the entire show, is a forbidden relation between a highschooler and a housewife who can't have children naturally. You might've think that they do it for the sake of the housewife to bear her a child, but there are more intricate story beneath it. The second, which is not as interesting and more painful to watch - not because of poor production but more to the fate of the character, is about the highschooler's friend whose his life impacted by the relationship.

This movie contains explicit sexual intercourse in some parts, so for those who can't take it are advised to stay away from this show.

The first part is an awesome demonstration of storytelling that enough to warrant it a score of 9. Some may find it confusing with non-linear story line structure, but I find itself better at explaining what happened. While the first is really good, the second falls behind due to abrupt changes from the first arc without good transition in between. It also gets bogged down by meandering and too depressing story of the hardship the character (Fukuda) has to suffer. After Fukuda's problem is solved, the story shifts again to the highschooler storyline, much to provide him a solid conclusion, when he gets a motivation to move on out of the mess he left behind.

About the acting, some actors stand out while others are not bad. The actress playing the housewife deserves an accolade for her awesome emotional play, from vivacious to destroyed, fouled up person only in single character. Nagayama, who played as the highschooler, might be a bit too old but it was impossible to cast an underage actor to play the role. He once again proves that he is talented and very underrated.

The music serves the story pretty well but it doesn't stand out. I found that rating the overall score of this movie is hard because of its uneven technical accomplishment, leaning between 7 and 8. However, I finally settled with another low-end 8, pretty good overall but not that good either.

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