Japanese Story Review
by Mark R Leeper (leeper AT mtgbcs DOT mt DOT lucent DOT com)October 12th, 1998
APRIL STORY (Japanese with subtitles)
A review by Mark R. Leeper in bullet-list form
from the Toronto Internation Film Festival
CAPSULE: A pleasant slice-of-life about a woman from Hokkaido adapting to life at a Tokyo University. Toward the end there is a twist and the viewer discovers the plot has been developing all along. Rating: 6 (0 to 10), high +1 (-4 to +4)
- Directed by Shunji Iwai
- Young woman leaving Hokkaido to go to Musashino University in Tokyo.
- Slice-of-life style just shows what life is like adjusting to her tiny dorm room, her nervousness about meeting new classmates, We also see her recreation as she goes to a movie, becomes a regular at a local bookstore, makes a few friends, joins a school fishing club. Her life seems very lonely.
- Story could have taken place in England, US, Canada, etc. - Dorms in Japan seem very depressing. Tiny rooms, rundown walls, rust on metal.
- Appears to be snowing when she leaves Hokkaido and when she arrives in Tokyo. You realize in Tokyo it is actually not snow but apple blossoms falling. There is a pleasant musical theme as the score. It seems to be played on a single piano.
- Film is short, about 67 minutes. Seems like it could be an afternoon TV program for high school girls.
Mark R. Leeper
[email protected]
Copyright 1998 Mark R. Leeper
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
