Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump and Dustin Hoffman’s Raymond Babbitt had their fans in Japan — both “Forrest Gump” and “Rain Man” were hit films here — but people on the autism spectrum seldom figure as major characters in Japanese films. So it’s refreshing to see the talented Hio Miyazawa play an artist with Asperger’s syndrome, now considered part of the autism spectrum, in Rika Katsu’s debut feature, “Spring in Between.”
Based on Katsu’s original script, the film is more of an offbeat, delicately told love story than an inspiring drama about a disabled hero triumphing over adversity. While this sort of romantic plotline is not unprecedented, it is rare in films here. “Spring in Between” makes its central romance credible and unexpectedly moving, despite an element of wish fulfillment, with its stars aligning all too conveniently.
That is not to say the path to requited love is smooth. The protagonist is Haru (Sakurako Konishi), whose name, which means “spring” in Japanese, comes to have a double meaning. She works for a slick magazine called Maybe, where she still behaves like a bumbling newbie after three years on the job. One day, the sweet and introverted Haru is assigned to handle a profile on an up-and-coming artist, Tohru Okunai (Miyazawa).
A passionate, impulsive type who paints only in blue, Tohru finds inspiration in everyday miracles — the shape of plastic bottles, the play of light on the side of buildings. When he tells Haru he has Asperger’s syndrome in the “gray zone,” meaning he fits some but not all criteria for autism, she is taken aback by his energy and eccentricity while also charmed by his honesty and sensitivity.
As the profile progresses over the course of months, their relationship deepens. Haru, another fish out of water, finds in Tohru a nonjudgmental kindred spirit who is starkly different from her live-in boyfriend (Yoshihiko Hosoda), a reporter for a sleazy tabloid who patronizes her.
And though Tohru avoids eye contact and has odd obsessions, he enthusiastically invites her into his world while showing a playful side that makes her think a romantic relationship might be possible.
A complication arrives in Yuri Oikawa (Sumire Ashina), a free-spirited, ball-of-fire photographer who comes to shoot Tohru for the profile — and immediately connects with him in ways Haru can’t, causing her pure-hearted love to turn into angry jealousy. But can Tohru love Haru back, or does his Asperger’s make it difficult to have anything resembling intimacy?
As Tohru, Miyazawa obliterates any connection with his previous roles, including the unfaithful warlord in “The Legend & Butterfly” and the gay personal trainer in “Egoist.” Instead of performing a showy imitation of a person on the autism spectrum, he plays the character from the inside out, with a commitment and depth that feel unforced. Also, his Tohru has self-awareness and even career smarts: He knows that art is the only thing he has — and that Haru’s profile can sell him as a major new talent.
I wasn’t quite sold by the ending, which is on the pat side. But I also wanted to believe what Tohru believes: Spring has come to stay.
| Rating | |
|---|---|
| Run Time | 103 mins. |
| Language | Japanese |
| Opens | May 26 |
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