An elementary school boy leaves the big city in Japan to live in a provincial town with his mother. At school, the other children find him exotic and wonder why he can speak Japanese, even though he does not 'look Japanese.' But, of course, he is. Events then take a sinister turn when one of the boys realizes his new classmate is black, and his textbook about AIDS only shows black people, and so assumes his new classmate has AIDS.
This is a clever set-up for the narrative and the second-act complication is both amusing and disturbing, as one eminently sensible classmate tries to convince the new boy that he most assuredly does not have AIDS. The new boy looks for answers and reassurance from his mother. His efforts, and predicament, are conveyed naturalistically and are persuasively authentic.
The open-ended resolution is low key and perhaps this is most appropriate, as the film leaves you with questions rather than attempting to force pat answers and provide pithy resolution. The film explores universal questions of belonging, and frames them in a timely and pertinent context with regard to modern-day Japan. This is mature, subtle filmmaking, both enjoyable and thought-provoking.
This is a clever set-up for the narrative and the second-act complication is both amusing and disturbing, as one eminently sensible classmate tries to convince the new boy that he most assuredly does not have AIDS. The new boy looks for answers and reassurance from his mother. His efforts, and predicament, are conveyed naturalistically and are persuasively authentic.
The open-ended resolution is low key and perhaps this is most appropriate, as the film leaves you with questions rather than attempting to force pat answers and provide pithy resolution. The film explores universal questions of belonging, and frames them in a timely and pertinent context with regard to modern-day Japan. This is mature, subtle filmmaking, both enjoyable and thought-provoking.