As lovely and lilting as hearing Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” over a crackly record player on a snow-flecked day, Japanese filmmaker Hiroshi Okuyama’s second feature “My Sunshine” is a moving coming-of-age drama about kids facing up to the troubles of adulthood.
This gently composed story of an ice-skating coach on the island of Hokkaido, and his two young pupils, has darker dynamics under its sleeve than the emotionally generous time-to-face-the-music-of-growing-up story that’s on its surface. It’s told in furtive glances and silent pacts against a frost-dappled backdrop, the end of winter coming soon, as two adolescents form a bond on the ice rink that complicates the private life of their instructor. Japan would be wise to submit “My Sunshine,” the second feature from “Jesus” director Okuyama, for the Best International Feature Oscar. Both the glass-half-full and the glass-half-empty corners of the audience will resonate with...
This gently composed story of an ice-skating coach on the island of Hokkaido, and his two young pupils, has darker dynamics under its sleeve than the emotionally generous time-to-face-the-music-of-growing-up story that’s on its surface. It’s told in furtive glances and silent pacts against a frost-dappled backdrop, the end of winter coming soon, as two adolescents form a bond on the ice rink that complicates the private life of their instructor. Japan would be wise to submit “My Sunshine,” the second feature from “Jesus” director Okuyama, for the Best International Feature Oscar. Both the glass-half-full and the glass-half-empty corners of the audience will resonate with...
- 5/20/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Some films prioritize a strident political cause, others set out to terrify or thrill. This touching and simple story from Japanese filmmaker Hiroshi Okuyama, premiering in Un Certain Regard at Cannes, is a gentler affair, with modest ambitions that it realizes effectively. Set on a small Japanese island, the film’s slight but sweet narrative follows a quartet of characters — young hockey player Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama), proficient skater Sakura (Kiara Nakanishi), figure-skating tutor Arakawa (Sōsuke Ikematsu) and his boyfriend (Ryûya Wakaba) — as they navigate subtly shifting interpersonal dynamics while a cold but beautiful winter waxes and wanes around them.
Every scene is set up with a very deliberate aesthetic sense. A snowy icing-sugar landscape, a baseball field tinged with pale turquoise light, an indoor ice-rink shimmering in a golden haze: Nothing feels haphazard or anything less than picture-perfect. This is the result of a fruitful collaboration between director and Dp,...
Every scene is set up with a very deliberate aesthetic sense. A snowy icing-sugar landscape, a baseball field tinged with pale turquoise light, an indoor ice-rink shimmering in a golden haze: Nothing feels haphazard or anything less than picture-perfect. This is the result of a fruitful collaboration between director and Dp,...
- 5/19/2024
- by Catherine Bray
- Variety Film + TV
When CBS’ NCIS: Hawai’i resumes its third season this Monday at 10/9c, the “honeymoon” is over for Special Agent Lucy Tara.
Having gone undercover as “newlyweds” with partner Kate Whistler ahead of the island drama’s three-week break, Lucy finds herself very much in the thick of things when her assignment to protect a visiting Russian VIP takes all kinds of turns.
More from TVLineFBI Recap: Is the Team About to Lose Maggie?FBI: International Shocker: Luke Kleintank Exiting After 3 SeasonsSo Help Me Todd Creator, Cast React to Cancellation: 'This Has Been the Best Professional Experience of My Life'
TVLine...
Having gone undercover as “newlyweds” with partner Kate Whistler ahead of the island drama’s three-week break, Lucy finds herself very much in the thick of things when her assignment to protect a visiting Russian VIP takes all kinds of turns.
More from TVLineFBI Recap: Is the Team About to Lose Maggie?FBI: International Shocker: Luke Kleintank Exiting After 3 SeasonsSo Help Me Todd Creator, Cast React to Cancellation: 'This Has Been the Best Professional Experience of My Life'
TVLine...
- 3/22/2024
- by Matt Webb Mitovich
- TVLine.com
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