Not sure if I have said this before but I love Japanese movies even the romance because I think they’re not abusing the love, i.e. romance is not always about kissing, hugging, and making love. There are other things to it and to us as a human being. Well, there might be Japanese movies that explore those kisses and hugs and have a lot of bed scenes too, but maybe they’re not the ones I love to watch or review. Haha 🙈✌ I mean, I usually watch a movie by chance, or if I happen to know or love the actor who plays in it, or maybe from the story itself. So, here we go. (And for the previous reviews, click and read here).
Perfect World
So, umm, I decided to watch this movie because I heard that Suda Masaki (you know I love him!) sang a song for its drama soundtrack, so I searched for the synopsis. However, I had no time to watch the drama so I decided to watch the movie version only. Besides, Suda Masaki only sang the soundtrack; i.e. he didn’t actually play a role in the drama, so I guess movie was the best choice 😊 And guess what? I fell in love with the conflict in this movie! Gosh, why do I love conflicts?! LoL Well, I mean, it’s not that I love conflicts; I just love it that those conflicts were presented so we can understand better and learn from them because I think those conflicts, albeit not exactly the same, might exist in reality. In reality, however, we tend to judge without trying to understand. Sigh
Well, here comes the spoiler or the summary (?): a girl met her old senior at school for work. It’s her first love ever. But, it turned out the guy has now been “disabled” due to a crash. Fast forward, the guy fell in love with her and they started to go out. The girl’s father disapproved and begged the guy to break up with her for her sake.
Now, maybe it’s easy to say that the father is selfish but, well, as usual, I don’t really watch movies to judge. I just want to understand various perspectives. And here are several things that I get:
- The guy dearly loves the girl, but he understands the girl’s father’s perspectives very well so he decided to break up with her because he, too, doesn’t want to be a burden for her. And he knows or feels that he is indeed a burden. He cannot make her happy. And he doesn’t want it. And the father disapproves of their relationship, too, well…maybe it makes him think that he has no reasons to “fight for her”? He can’t? We can’t blame him, can we?
- The father sincerely loves his only daughter and that’s without a doubt. He thinks that dating or getting married to the sick guy will only bring sorrow for her. And let’s be honest, he’s not that wrong. Caring for sick people can tax you. It can be “exhausting” too, not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. This logic is what the father brings to his perspective about her daughter’s relationship with the guy. He just doesn’t want her to go through all that. We can’t blame the father, right? However, what the father and (the guy) failed to see at the beginning is that…
- The girl is truly in love with the guy. Being with him makes her happy. She enjoys caring for him. Being able to care for him is what makes her happy. But since the guy “wants to break up” with her and her father disapproves of their relationship, she decides to accept it. Maybe because it makes her think that it’s no use to keep fighting to be with the love of his life. She did try to reason with her father when she’s still in a relationship with the guy but when the guy said it’s better for them to break up, I guess she lost the reason to fight. We cannot fight alone, can we? Imposing her feelings and forcing the guy to keep being in the relationship when he doesn’t look happy because he feels like burdening her sounds too selfish too, right? Again, there’s really nobody to blame. It’s just the situation that is fucked up. But, well…
I love this movie because it has happy endings. I love happy-ended movies 😊 The father can finally see that not being able to be with the guy makes her daughter sad. The guy can also finally see that the girl doesn’t see him as a burden. The father finally approves of their relationship. And they’re finally about to get married 😊
Well, I love it because watching this movie, seeing the conflict as “an outsider”, helps me to be “more patient.” In real life, we’re often impatient, maybe because we’re involved in experiencing it. We demand people to work harder, to try again, etc. “You should work harder to convince them. You should not give up.” Etc. We love to guilt-trip people and push them as if they had no limit, do we? It’s not wrong either. But sometimes it’s more complicated than just fighting and not giving up. Sometimes it’s time that helps us realize what’s better or best. Sometimes we think the realization is too late, but often times it just works at the right time 😊 Or, perhaps, maybe that’s how destiny works…
And, well, of course we don’t know how long the girl will hang on, if she’ll eventually get exhausted, if she will remain happy, etc. But, well, a movie should end at a certain point, no? 🙂
Evergreen Love
I watched this movie because I fell in love with Iwata Takanori. Yes, I fell in love with many people, but if we can fall in love, why hate, right? 😜 So, who’s Iwata Takanori? Well, remember the guy in the movie I reviewed above? It’s Iwata Takanori who played the sick guy. And his acting is so good. I love his smile and I kinda like his acting so I kinda looked up his other work, and found this one. And, oh, it turned out that he’s originally a singer, but I’m not really into his music so I guess let’s stick with the movie.
Anyway, this movie was actually cringey for me. I mean, it started with a girl finding a stranger stranded in front of her house so she decided to let him stay with her and they fell in love with each other. The guy was gone after 6 months (because that’s what they initially agreed), and later the girl found out that the guy was actually the son of a famous person. Etc. Etc. Well, of course it has happy ending and I know it’s just fictional, but to be honest, I don’t think it’s possible in real life. Or, am I just too scared of such chances? I mean, you found a stranger, you let him in, stayed with him, then fell in love with him. First of all, it’s a cliché. I don’t hate cliché but this one is just too creepy for me. I mean, if I encounter such situation, I’m not sure what I’m gonna do. I live alone and there’s a stranger wanting to stay with me. Perhaps the first thing that comes to my mind will be: “What if he’s a bad person? What if he rapes, robs, and kills me?” Hikz, maybe that’s why love doesn’t happen to me. I’m just not brave enough to take such risks or chances ☹ But logically, I’m not wrong, am I? Of course I want to help, but at least I have to make sure it’s safe, right? And this is really the part that I hate from the movie. Sigh. Not to mention that the guy left without explanation and when the girl finally found him, it’s so easy for them to get back. Not that I hate it. I love them to be happy. I love happy endings. But in reality, things are often not that simple or easy… Or maybe I’m just making it complicated. I don’t know…
But, well, if I should learn something from this movie, maybe it’s trust. Sometimes we’re too scared to do anything. Sometimes we make things way too complicated. And this movie is just like, “Well, it’s not that complicated. It’s really simple. You just need to take the chances. You just need to trust. See? Nothing bad happens.” Yeah, I have a mixed feeling about this one. But Iwata Takanori is so sweet and handsome, so I guess that’s fine. At least I get to see his smiles in this movie. Haha 🙈✌
