Synopsis
A kindergarten teacher meets a novice magician and together they travel to another city to find love.
1984 ‘メイン・テーマ’ Directed by Yoshimitsu Morita
A kindergarten teacher meets a novice magician and together they travel to another city to find love.
OK, so it's an opinion I've held for a while, but after this film, if anybody seriously throws my way the idiotic notion that the 1980s were a "lost decade" for Japanese cinema, which was probably put forward by one of the critics who think that Japanese cinema began and ended with Ozu™ anyway, I am seriously going to punch something.
It's just absolutely perfect, Yoshimitsu Morita channeling Obayashi via Kadokawa - can you seriously think of anything better? I certainly can't. Hiroko plays Shibuki, a kindergarten teacher having a pseudo-"will-they-won't-they"-affair with the father of one of the kids she takes care of. She meets Ken (Hironobu Nomura) on a beach after he chases her around with his car, equipped…
But my breasts are not big.
That's OK. The smaller the better. Less wind resistance.
Smooth!👀
A kindergarten teacher almost gets run over by a pick up truck driving magician on the beach who's trying to impress her, so naturally, they decided to travel together to another city to seek out the loves of their lives.
Watched for Yakushimaru and to get a hit of that 80s aesthetic, so in that regard, I got what I was after. The overall tone didn't really vibe with me, as I couldn't figure out why the two leads were pursuing other relationships when they were clearly into each other.
Ken, the aspiring magician is on the same level as the magician from Skullduggery…
Another delirious film from Yoshimitsu Morita, Main Theme feels somehow more spiritually in tune with France than Japan with hints of Demy in the colours and Godard in its frantic energy. This starts with foot to pedal, throwing everything at the screen at once, powering through almost like a collection of sketches. The dust settles and romance blossoms. It's a little bit sad and very cute. It chooses what tone to go for in the moment, and there are scenes that were so out of control and cartoonish I was left gobsmacked. The locations are beautiful. In particular, I loved seeing the lovely of grime Osaka and Kobe. The cast is wonderful. Hiroko Yakushimaru and Hironobu Nomura are both very sweet and endearing. Also, Jun Togawa has a sizeable part, which blew my mind! A really great piece of 80s bubble era beauty.
Summer Connection. Pickups are the chasers of love. There were no real conflicts, the convention is barely there; there was intimacy amidst all. Urban freshness is delightful. When will the past tense magical oceans welcome you?
Cute and ephemeral in a way that reflects the rise of anime and idol-culture in 80's Japan, which at the same time explains why people were just paying less attention to movies during this era. I'll say it's a little too languid and devoid of grown-up conflict for my taste—in my experience manga is better at turning this into a strength—but those Citypop vibes were enough to make me wanna see it all the way through.
let the big city beats guide you to
a place build out of the lights that were left in us when we've fallen off the night sky and came down here
dreams and love will welcome you
this is basically a sublime 1 hour and 40 minute city pop music video. i liked the structure of mostly short yet concise scenes that jump between characters and different stretches of time; something that's jarring at first but hypnotic when it catches. nice editing, camera, songs were good, hiroko is cute.
can't go wrong.
some clips:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SruA2tVPZM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lETjIcQ89BU
pure nostalgia, this feels like living inside the haruomi hosono album pacific
Pop joy. Draw a map to the home using the images she will encounter on the way, sketches turning into frames. The gate has plastic fruit on it, inside there's a tanning bed used as a sofa. Two men and two women. No one's ever really together so no one's ever really apart. Jump cuts of messy eyebrows and twisted hair. A magic show and later, a live show in the bumper to bumper traffic. This isn’t fair, to only describe it in glimpses, but there is something about the space and tones of this (a youthful Godard). Improvisational in the sense that the form is never set but determines itself in the next shot, until it all ends with hundred of balloons taking to the sky.