Japan Cuts Japanese Reviews Reviews

Film Review: Radiance (2017) Naomi Kawase

I have to admit, I find a number of 's films repeating, too self-conscious and occasionally even pretentious, despite their more than evident visual prowess. “” however, achieves a rather unusual and also quite impressive accomplishment, of encompassing all the characteristics (both good and bad) that have shaped her career, including her own life experiences in cinema, and in the process becoming the quintessential Kawase film. As my friend Bastian Meiresonne mentioned, “An open manual on how to watch a Naomi Kawase movie, which is the most beautiful and the most pretentious thing an artist could do.”

Radiance is screening at Japan Cuts 2018

Misako is a young writer of audio description working for a company that produces soundtracks for visually impaired cinemagoers. Her work seems to be her passion, as, in the initially scenes, we watch her narrating everything that occurs in front of her eyes in a street she crosses. Her job however, which includes presenting her texts in front of a committee comprised of visual impaired individuals, is quite difficult, as she has to try to be both accurate and to leave enough space for their imagination. As Masaya Nakamori, a famous photographer whose vision is deteriorating, becomes a member of the committee, Misako's work becomes even more difficult, since his harsh remarks “encourage” the rest of the members to be equally judging, to the point that in one occasion, Misako feels the need to also lash out. Soon after though, she finds herself drawn to Nakamori, and his frustrating transition from a life dominated by sight to one where sound is the main source of communication.

The parallel between Naomi Kawase and Misako is more than obvious, with the visually impaired committee members symbolizing both the audience and, even more, the critics, in quite ironic fashion (they are depicted as blind after all). Through this interaction, Kawase seems to wish to say that she finds herself trying to balance evoking emotion and making films that people (of both the aforementioned capacities) understand. The fact that Misako deals with opposing remarks, since others consider her texts imprecise and others too detailed seems to mirror the criticism Kawase has to face about her films. Furthermore, the way she feels about all the above is depicted in the scene where she starts crying and eventually lashes out on them. On the other hand, the way her relationship with Nakamori forms seems to mirror her true feelings of love and even of a wish to serve even her most harsh critics. Lastly, (and I realize I may have gone too far with this parallel), the way one of his friends treats Nakamori at a time of a great need for him seems to symbolize her relationship with other filmmakers, in a rather harsh parallel.

On a visual level, Kawase uses the slow burning relationship between a woman attending visually impaired people's needs, and a man who is bordering on blindness to make a number of comments regarding the connection between image and sound, the purpose of cinema, particularly regarding towards this specific group, and the importance of eyesight, which most people seem to take for granted.

The visuals in the film are outstanding, as is always the case in Kawase's films. Dodo Arata uses a rather interesting approach, focusing almost exclusively on the faces and the hands of his protagonists, and particularly 's impressive fingers and manicure, and giving almost no image of the rest of their bodies. This approach strips the film of any kind of sensuality, with Nagase stressing that actions and feelings, as conveyed by facial expressions are the ones that truly matter. The various scenes where we witness how Nakamori witnesses the world and the scenes where the sunlight floods the screen are among the most impressive in the movie.

The acting is also on a very high level. Ayame Misake is great as Misako, a woman who finds her passion crushed repeatedly by people she thinks do not understand her, but finds the resolve to continue and even love them in the end. is also outstanding, as a man whose frustration for having to change a way of life he used to adore and abandon his passion takes over him, making him bitter and occasionally obnoxious. The scenes where he tries to pretend that this does not bother him are among the highlights of her performance.

“Radiance” is a film, once again, addressed to a very specific group, even among the art-house fans. I feel however, that this turn that resulted in an utterly personal movie is the way to go for Kawase, if she really feels that she needs to change the way she makes films. The certain thing is though, that it definitely deserves a watch, even by those who do not cherish her style particularly.

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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