Follow the Light (2021)

Realistic, grounded portrayal of young people and some of their difficulties

The film centres around two high school students, Maki and Akira, who are both a bit lost because parents and find friendship with each other. I didn't understand some of the symbolism decided on by other students but it was easy enough to just go with it. Perhaps it's a Japanese understanding, maybe it's idiosyncratic to the director. Motivations are consistent and clear, even when they're not explained straight away. Maki is acting out because of x, a boy does what he does because of y, Akira is kind.

There are many small touches evoking place, like views of the countryside and the beautiful ice cream serving technique of a grandmother. It all feels very real and grounded. This is my favourite film of all the ones I've seen in this autumn's JFF+ Independent Cinema festival. If you like youth drama and film with realistic portrayals of the difficulties young people struggle with as they grow up, this is well worth seeking out. Maki especially is a character I'll remember and I hope to see Nagasawa Itsuki, Nakagawa Tsubasa and some of the others again.

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"never was there a mountain with no fog"

here's what the movie did well (aka the mountain):
- capturing the rural beauty of akita prefecture. stick around for the credits, frfr
- illustrating complicated feelings about your hometown, the things it does well, and the things it lacks. i was born and raised in one of the biggest cities in america, and i still identified with the different characters' viewpoints about how great or how sucky this small town in akita is. i felt like the movie was written by someone who truly understood what 'home' meant.
- creating strong secondary characters and supporting storylines. i honestly would have watched a whole movie of nara-sensei torn between honouring her family's wishes for her that keeps her rooted in her hometown and finding/accomplishing her own dream out in tokyo; or of ryota and hideo working together to figure out how to teach farmers to become florists to save the local economy; or of the okamoto family resisting and evading debt collectors as they struggled to keep their gas station afloat and their folk heritage relevant; or of the last graduating class of an about-to-close-down school banding together to throw an epic school closing ceremony - complete with the obstructive meddling of well-meaning teachers - pulled together and led by the magnanimous empathetic and no-nonsense sayaka. (real talk, i totally fell for sayaka as a character and nakajima sena as an actress. absolute highlight of the movie for me.) these varied supporting storylines were how the movie was able to squeeze in so many repercussions of rural flight and an aging population, and they held a lot more appeal to me than the main storyline, unfortunately.

we experience the entire movie almost entirely through the lens of akira, who moved from tokyo to this rural farming town. he likes to draw, but he's otherwise a gary stu-type of character, and i actually think this was a brilliant move. he allows the audience to receive those extra storylines in a manner that isn't too emotional or overwhelming. they are simply facts as observed by a young boy who has 0 investment in the town's trajectory.

here's where the movie lost me (aka the fog):
- honestly, it's a stretch to say this movie is science fiction. the eponymous light isn't even seen by the audience - though, i also consider this a good move. this way, the focus doesn't shift from the town to the source/meaning of the light. that being said, the movie could lose this whole aspect, and it wouldn't suffer at all. the only parts that would be lost are the weakest parts of the movie anyway. namely, maki.
- i'll be straight up and say i did not understand the point of her character. the most value she brought to the story was as the daughter of the okamoto family. she really didn't need to be elevated to... what, akira's crush? i really cannot tell why they needed to have a special or significant relationship because every contribution she made to akira's character could have been satisfied, or was already being satisfied, by another character. (also, the less said about her incongruous characterisation, the better). there is a supporting storyline that offshoots from their relationship that i found superfluous in the movie, as well.

all of this being said, i mostly enjoyed myself while watching. it's a great vibes-centric movie. good views, good music, good people trying to do their best. the entire cast did a g r e a t job, especially the schoolkids. i would have liked to rate this higher, but unfortunately the parts i disliked i /really/ disliked 😞✊

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