Scores of documentaries and fiction films have focused on or referenced the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 and the resulting tsunami and nuclear meltdown. This triple disaster, which took approximately 20,000 lives, has yet to produce anything like Roberto Benigni’s 1997 film “Life Is Beautiful,” which found humor in a Nazi concentration camp, but Yoshiyuki Kishi’s rom-com “Sunset Sunrise” comes close in its blend of comedy and pathos, both painted in primary colors.
Set in COVID-era Japan at its paranoid peak when people were spraying groceries with disinfectant and isolating themselves for weeks at a time, the film unfolds in Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, a real-life town that was severely impacted by the 2011 disaster. The townspeople are still processing the trauma, including Momoka Sekino (Mao Inoue), a woman in her mid-30s who works at City Hall and lives with Akio (Masatoshi Nakamura), a rough-hewn fisherman she refers to as “father.”
Into their tight-knit community bumbles Shinsaku (Masaki Suda), an employee at a large Tokyo company who sees Momoka’s online ad for a tenant and is amazed by the low rent for her spacious house near the shore. Soon after, Momoka enters the house and freaks out when she finds a smiling Shinsaku already there.
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.