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).