By now, there are dozens of films about the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and the following tsunami and reactor meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, all of which devastated the Tohoku region.
The long-term impact on affected groups and individuals is a common theme, one Tatsuro Yamashiro’s second feature, “Shinpei,” approaches from a fresh angle: Instead of the usual fishermen, farmers and other hardworking folks, his protagonist is an unemployed guy who breaks into abandoned houses in the no-go zone near the power plant, which residents were forced to evacuate due to high radiation levels.
Scripted by Haruka Takenami, the film is not about the criminal gangs that reportedly operated in the zone, though they get a mention. Set in 2014, when evacuation orders were still in full force, it instead relates how the titular hero, who has a mild intellectual disability, moves through his shattered world.
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