Can a dramedy outplay a film that takes a serious approach to the heavyweight topics, stretching far beyond the usual methods of emotional manipulation by reaching for the straightforward little truths as simple as they occur in life? The Japanese director Chihiro Amano might have found the right recipe in her fourth fiction feature “Mrs. Noisy”, starring Yukiko Shinohara and Yoko Ootaka as the neighbors from hell. The film had its world premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival back in November where it took the audience by storm, and it continues its rather successful festival travel circuit, slowly conquering the European audiences.
“Mrs Noisy“ is screening at Cinemasia Film Festival
One of the biggest qualities of “Mrs. Noisy” is that it speaks to many people in its representation of mundane situations described in the script penned by the director herself. Having an annoying neighbor is something almost anyone knows about from their own experience, but also the prejudice we tend to build about others without as much as knowing anything about them. In playing with those cards and yet not building up on a misery porn despite of plenty material for doing exactly that, Chihiro Amano has probably achieved something that is a rarity in this type of films – viewer's wish to rethink certain behavioral patterns, and maybe even change the attitude towards the people in general.
After the birth of her daughter Nanako, short Nako (later on played by Chise Niitsu), Maki Yoshioka, aka Rei Mizusawa is convinced that her inspiration to write another successful book will be motivated by the joy of motherhood. The years pass by and she is exactly there where most of other mothers world-wide are – at home with the child, sacrificing her career for her husband's. That Yuichi (Takuma Nagao) also happens to be a freelancer doesn't stop him from doing his own thing at the costs of Maki's writing. The hope for a positive change comes with a fresh start in a new apartment which looks ideal for a concentrated writing. The working room is set up, and a new chance to be published is around the corner.
Reality looks a bit different. The preschooler Nako is bored stiff in the apartment as she is left to entertain herself alone, so she decides to change things by going out to play on her own. That this doesn't end up that well is only understandable, but the consequences surpass the usual question of punishment and a child's well-being.
Nako spends most of her (ungranted) time outside her parent's home with the first-door neighbor Miwako, a middle-aged woman who lives alone with her oddly behaving husband. She also happens to drive Nako's mother nuts by performing a very loud ritual of futon beating every morning before the clock strikes 6. The feud between two women grows even bigger over the girl – Maki (Yukiko Shinohara) believes the neighbor to be crazy, and the neighbor thinks that the mother is neglecting her child.
This could be a very flat story about a feud between neighbors, if there weren't another intervention that glues the pieces of the puzzle in a welcome manner. Chihiro Amano turns to the contemporary problem of the destructive power of social medias in creating fake realities. “Ms. Noisy” becomes an inspiration for the writer who's investing all her anger to get personal revenge on the woman she holds responsible for everything that goes wrong in her household. By doing that, she unintentionally does irreparable damage to the already scarred Wakata family that had to fight with an incredible loss.
“Ms. Noisy” is a film based on a brilliantly developed script with a filigree feel for real human destinies. It is a bold work, with feminist thoughts hidden behind the main plot, nonjudgmental and yet clear in its message – don't be a simpleton and self-centered.
