Do films need to make sense? Fans of David Lynch or Kiyoshi Kurosawa may say no, but moviemakers flirt with ambiguity at their peril. Chihiro Ito’s debut feature, “In Her Room,” drew praise in some quarters (including this publication) when it was released last month. However, the online response has been more negative, with many reviewers on sites such as Eiga.com and Filmarks grumbling that Ito’s languid, enigmatic drama was simply inscrutable.
In an unusually quick turnaround, the director — an experienced screenwriter who only recently picked up the megaphone — is already back in cinemas with her follow-up. “Side by Side” shares many traits with her previous film: It’s dreamy, slow-moving and reluctant to yield its secrets. It’s also the more satisfying of the two, perhaps because this time Ito is working from an original screenplay rather than adapting her own novel. Unlike its predecessor, “Side by Side” doesn’t leave the impression that some vital piece of the puzzle has been lost in the transition to the screen.
Kentaro Sakaguchi stars as Miyama, a placid, passive young man whose interactions with the world around him suggest that he’s just stepped off a spaceship and is still figuring out the subtleties of human behavior. He lives in a rural community with his partner, single mother Shiori (Mikako Ichikawa), and her young daughter Mimi (Ameri Isomura), where he works as a kind of clairvoyant chiropractor. The specifics are never fully explained, but Miyama is acutely sensitive to the spirit realm, which has made him a magnet for wandering apparitions.
He’s haunted, in both senses of the word. During the first half of the film, he is followed by a silent, peroxide-blond man (Kodai Asaka) who turns out to be the supernatural double of an old — and very much alive — college acquaintance. This leads to a reunion with Miyama’s saturnine ex, Riko (Asuka Saito), and a reckoning with the troubled past that he’s been running away from for all this time.
Ito appears to be taking inspiration from Apichatpong Weerasethakul, both in the film’s precise visual compositions (realized, once again, by cinematographer Tai Ouchi) and the matter-of-fact way in which the mortal and spirit realms coexist in her story. It’s a refreshing depiction of the ways people connect to each other, be it physically, emotionally or spiritually. There are frequent, teasing hints that the ever-watchful Mimi is attuned to the same extrasensory frequencies as her mother’s mysterious boyfriend.
Speaking of said mother, Ichikawa’s Shiori brings some welcome grit and levity to the proceedings. She’s everything Miyama isn’t: animated, expressive and firmly rooted in reality. Without her, the film’s endless pouting and mannerisms might have become unbearable. Sakaguchi’s performance is more opaque, although on a second viewing, I noticed subtleties that hadn’t been apparent the first time around.
There’s a heady whiff of new age mysticism to the film, which tips into more overtly religious symbolism toward the end, culminating in a final image that radiates the beatific aura of an altarpiece. While I’m inclined to agree with the naysayers about Ito’s debut, “Side by Side” isn’t so easily dismissed. In the space of just two movies, she’s confirmed herself as a filmmaker with a distinctive and coherent vision — though good luck figuring out what she’s actually saying.
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| Run Time | 130 mins. |
| Language | Japanese, Burmese |
| Opens | April 14 |
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.