Journey to the Shore (2015)

Another lovely example of a"no plot, just vibes" movie- a pleasant surprise in more ways than one, since 1) I did not know or anticipate the movie to belong to this genre and 2) I did not know how much I needed to watch another movie from this genre.

From the earliest scenes, I was completely invested in Mizuki's (Eri Fukatsu) story- the way she clutched on to Yusuke (Tadanobu Asano) when he returns made me feel alive in the way only a good romantic drama can. Plus, the magic realism was on point: neither too much, nor too little, just adequate enough to be compelling storytelling. Mostly though, I loved how soothing I found the film's pace. Everything moved so slowly and quietly, with such beautiful and engaging visuals- this really was perfect for the mood I was in. Even the very dramatic confrontation scene between Mizuki and Tomoko (Yū Aoi) was so quiet but also so intense that I was hooked for every single second of it. This brings me to another thing I appreciated about the movie- the background music, which excellently aided what was going on screen, and made the entire experience of watching the movie so much more satisfying. 

I must also write a bit about how much I loved Eri Fukatsu here. I found her so brilliant that less than halfway through the movie, I was checking the rest of her filmography on Letterboxd! She held the movie together for me, and was primarily responsible for making it such a wonderful experience, especially considering how badly my last attempt at watching a non-animated Japanese movie had flopped. But thanks to her and this movie, I'm willing to try and explore more. Also I hope I find more good films with her, because I really want to see her in more stuff, but I'm also too lazy and commitment-phobic to watch a TV series.

In conclusion, I would recommend this to people wanting to start out with Japanese cinema. Also to people who are already fans of Japanese literature, since I had the distinct feeling that I was in a Japanese novel while I was watching the movie (yes, it has been adapted from a novel only, so I was right, and also I need to read a Japanese novel again soon).

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