Japanese Reviews Reviews

Film Review: I Am Really Good (2020) by Hirobumi Watanabe

has created a cinematic style that can be easily described as trademark. His films are in black and white, are shot in his home county, Tochigi Prefecture, are laconic except for a few moments of extensive monologues, have a weird sense of humor, a very thin storyline, and feature many and lengthy scenes of people walking. “” follows all those rules, but this time, instead of Watanabe himself, the protagonists are children.   

In that style, the film follows the “recipe” by presenting the kids in their respective houses by themselves, the kids walking in the rural area, and the kids interacting briefly with some grown-ups. The scenes that take place in the house feature Watanabe's social comment, which in this case, is presented through a radio talk show, where a number of experts (?) discuss the financial issues that Japan will face eventually as its population grows older, and how the money made by the current and future generation will not be enough to cover existing pensions.

The three very young children (2 girls and a boy, of whom the one girl seems like a star in the making) take care of the entertainment of the movie, with the way they conduct themselves being quite funny, particularly because they seem not to need grownups to sustain themselves. At the same time, watching a boy and a girl eating together on a table while the radio show features a discussion about modern couples is equally hilarious. Hirobumi Watanabe also plays a part in the movie, as a textbooks salesman who tries to sell his products to the children but refrains from doing so when he realizes their parents are not home. These dialogues are also quite funny, additionally due to their repetition.

The various walking scenes also entail an entertainment factor, both due to the almost dystopian setting (particularly because no one else seems to be present) and the excellent music of Yuji Watanabe, which is reminiscent of French romantic comedies. Hirobumi Watanabe's own cinematography is minimalist, although there are some very interesting frames, particularly in the scenes with the salesman.

In just over an hour, “I Am Really Good” does not overextend its welcome in any way, while the children and the splashes of humor are entertaining enough to retain interest for the whole duration. Of course, as with almost all films of Watanabe, it is addressed mainly to the viewers that enjoy his particular style of filmmaking.

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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