Japanese Reviews Reviews Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Film Review: Life is Fruity (2017) by Kenshi Fushihara

Winner of the Best Documentary of 2017 by Kinema Junpo and produced by Nagoya based Tokai TV, “” is a quite interesting and very Japanese documentary (if you will allow me the term).

Life is Fruity is screening at the Toronto Japanese Film Festival

Through Kirin Kiki's very fitting narration, we are introduced to the story of 90-years-old architect Shuichi Tsubata and his wife Hideko, who live in Aichi prefecture, in a house surrounded by an enormous garden “featuring” 70 types of vegetables and 50 types of fruits. The documentary takes a very close look at their everyday life, which revolves around caring for the garden, but also highlights the story of both their 65-year-long relationship and Tsubata's career.

In that fashion, and through photos, videos and interviews, we learn about the time Tsubata was a star of architecture, who was tasked with heading a team that was to build the Kojori new town, after the tidal waves almost a century ago destroyed the previous establishments. Tsubata came with a daring plan of houses that would coexist with the natural environment, but his proposal was rejected, for a faster and more cost-efficient solution. This decision led him to abandon the public service he worked for and to buy the piece land he lives now, where he built a house based on the design of his favorite architect, Czech-American architect Antonin Raymond. Since then, he cultivated the land, along with his wife and now moved-out children (who state that he involved them in all his projects, almost forcefully) in order to leave a legacy for the next generation, which, according to him, is soil worthy of cultivating.

At one point in the story, Tsubata dies, and the documentary shifts its interest completely, towards the life of Hideko without her husband, in a rather dramatic turn.

Kenshi Furihara's approach to his subject is subtle and gentle, but also quite thorough, as he explores almost every aspect of their lives. Their relationship is great to look at, as she still considers him very handsome and he does all those little things for her, like painting these adorable signs Hideko has placed all over the garden. His story about the disappointment he experiences is quite sad, but as his legacy remains, through his works in Taipei New City and a psychiatric asylum he designed just before he died, among others, makes his a rather happy and successful life.

On the other hand, Hideko's life after his death is filled with a distinct sadness, as we watch her continuing to prepare his meals every day, and living a life without the man who used to be its center. Furihara, however, does not let the film become a melodrama, both through the use of the relatively cheerful and always fitting music, and by avoiding any kind of tear-jerking scenes, which are bound to have been there. Shigeru Okada has a done a very nice job on the editing of the different footage, retaining a speed and a succession of events in the past and the present that make the film a rather entertaining experience, despite the relatively “slowness” that permeates it.

“Life is Fruity” is a very sensitive and thorough documentary that presents an alternative, but also very Japanese way of life of two people, whose lives are more than worthy of taking a look at.

 

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

My name is Panos Kotzathanasis and I am Greek. Being a fan of Asian cinema and especially of Chinese kung fu and Japanese samurai movies since I was a little kid, I cultivated that love during my adolescence, to extend to the whole of SE Asia.

Starting from my own blog in Greek, I then moved on to write for some of the major publications in Greece, and in a number of websites dealing with (Asian) cinema, such as Taste of Cinema, Hancinema, EasternKicks, Chinese Policy Institute, and of course, Asian Movie Pulse. in which I still continue to contribute.

In the beginning of 2017, I launched my own website, Asian Film Vault, which I merged in 2018 with Asian Movie Pulse, creating the most complete website about the Asian movie industry, as it deals with almost every country from East and South Asia, and definitely all genres.

You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

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