Just the other day I decided to watch Drive My Car, my introduction to the works of Ryusuke Hamaguchi. It was a film that I enjoyed but felt had a few weaknesses that I ultimately came to the conclusion were a result of having to carry the torch of Haruki Murakami's works as an author. The film was long, and much of it seemed like it was trying to be safe due to the source material it was following. This made me curious, I felt the need to dive deeper into the director's works and see what his mind is like when it's free of the limitations of source material.
In that other review, I even mentioned that I was hoping its success would result in a wider approach to Japanese cinema, where we'd see many other talented individuals trying new things and attempting to get into film festivals and seek wider audiences as a result. I still hope that is the case. Particularly having seen this next film, which was slightly older.
My second entry into this director's works was Asako I & II. I hadn't seen the trailer, not had I read anything about the film prior. I simply chose a film and started to watch it. Though, having seen Drive My Car, I had a generalised idea of what to expect through his style of storytelling and directing, which in the end were quite reflected in these other works.
I believe I enjoyed Asako I & II much more than Drive My Car. It's a story that felt much more human, and much more emotional. It was void of the many influences within literature and theatre that served as momentum in the dialogue of Drive My Car, and instead had a story that felt very authentic, grounded, and almost rather personal in its approach to displaying emotional trauma.
I found myself quite hooked by its story, and its locations. It seemed to hold my attention, and use certain aspects of human interaction to both frustrate me but hold me in close as I desperately found myself awaiting its conclusion; though purely for the satisfaction I hoped would be found as its story came to a close. It was weird, emotional, gentle, and also a little bit annoying. I loved it.
Asako I & II
Asako I & II very much holds its Japanese identity and displays it from the start. Its opening scene is one that can be found in many other Japanese forms of visual entertainment, where it holds a heavily dramatic event that is shot and edited in a way that's almost completely unrealistic. A girl and a guy meeting in public, but instantly falling in love under slow-motion, where time itself almost comes to a stop as their eyes meet. The music is strange, but adds to this lack of realism in the situation.
It's really effective in the way that it instantly grabs your attention, and it quickly has you question just where the film might be going. We're instantly introduced to these two characters, meaning we know they'll be significant to the plot somehow, just we have no understanding of how, where, and what may happen. Though that last answer is quickly told to us, as we see that these two characters aren't that compatible. They're completely different people but weirdly obsessed with each other. It sets this film up to be one of strong romance, but it quickly takes a turn to reveal that instead this film is one of heartache and displays the indecisive nature of the youth.
This emotional torment comes in waves throughout, as we see that the two characters go different ways, and the female finds a much more suitable partner; though he has a very similar look to her prior partner, and it's evident that she still seeks the other person, using this new partner as a way to deal with her prior frustrations. While it sounds incredibly dramatic, the film doesn't aim to be, it instead is slow, with dialogue that's often quiet, and camera movements and angles that are either static or utilising medium perspectives.
While the film is about love, it's far from a story of love itself. It's a story more on the pains of youth and how a woman's indecisive nature leads to nothing but actions that result in regret and lost opportunities. Where trust is given and thus manipulated. The way these concepts are addressed are done with fragility, where it portrays our blindless to love in some fantasised manner, but considers the hardships and much more realistic aspects of relationships with tones that are authentic to the viewer.
These situations we see the characters in and how they interact with each other reach us in ways that we can truly connect to them, where we can each relate to many areas where manipulation of trust and a person's indecisive nature leads to despair. Even in the performances there's elements of childish behaviour as our main character only thinks of herself and never the people she's hurting.
I found it interesting to see this from Hamaguchi, where Drive My Car -- and even the other films from him I've now seen -- each look at love and heartbreak from the female perspective, where they are the ones that are causing the pain and the men are left to try to pick up the pieces.
Selfishness, pain, and immaturity
It feels almost rare to see films in which the women are the ones causing the pain in relationships; I can't think of many where the men are actually considered the victims of someone's selfish nature, where their immaturity leads to lies and the trust of men being completely manipulated. Perhaps this is a factor of romance films typically leading towards the female target demographic; but Asako I & II isn't a romance film, it just holds a story that contains elements of romance.
While we see the perspective of the female throughout the film, it's strange to see her indecisive actions and how she lies so openly. There's immaturity in how she attempts to justify it, too. Hamaguchi does an excellent job at displaying these themes throughout the film, and we soon grow to hate our protagonist.
Ultimately, this is a film that doesn't have a happy ending. It's a film that takes a look at the fragility of relationships and our human nature to place faith into people even when we know it isn't deserved. It shows how when we are in love we blindly follow, even in times where the other may constantly pull certain strings and throw up many red flags. Sadly, this is an area of basic human nature where greed and selfishness are typically at the forefront of people's minds. Where instead we treat others poorly and don't realise how bad it is until the damage is already done. Hamaguchi knows this, and he plays with these themes very well.
So much so that even once the film had ended, I couldn't help but immediately prepare the next film of his, ready to soak up whatever elements of human interaction he had to display. I even found myself making comparisons to Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, who himself plays with similar themes of what we want and how we go about obtaining them.
Without the limitations of having to perform tightly with existing works from well-established authors, I feel I much more preferred Asako I & II over Drive My Car. It felt more dramatic, but in a way that was much more relatable, free of robotic performances, and ones that were far more true to the nature of relationships and society.
