Finding yourself during your school days can be a difficult task, and with his various difficulties settling-in, the hero of Yuma Taniura's short regularly finds himself in the toilet. Produced by Osaka Meisei Gakuen High School, this student film shows both the anxiety and learning that school life can give us.
Me Inside the Restroom is screening at Japan Film Fest Hamburg
Having been at the school for only two weeks, a new student has found it difficult to fit in, so much so that he has taken to eating his lunch in a supposedly isolated toilet cubicle, too anxious to sit with his classmates at lunchtime. But in his quiet space, he finds that he is not the only one with difficulties with the everyday.
Spying on each, he watches his fellow students and teachers come to the toilet as a sort of therapy room. The mirror acts as their counsellor with whom they share their inner demons: A footballer loses his place on the team; a teacher practices his public speaking; the schoolgirl-crush feels relieved after some particularly stinky business.
After each, our hero delivers his reflections on what he has heard, as if a YouTube vlogger, talking to the camera. He sees he is not the only one struggling to get to grips with school life. He roots for them, hoping they can put a brave face on things and pull through. Approaching his own personal “counsellor,” he realises it is time he started to cheer for himself.
A student film, this is naturally amateurish, but what it lacks in developed skills, it makes up for in schoolboy charm, and indeed schoolboy humour. The repetition of shots introducing each new character shows a knack for structuring and comic timing for an aspiring student. Within 5 minutes, we have been introduced to a number of characters, made to laugh and made to reflect, showing good editing skills also.
We can all find ourselves in some unusual and difficult places, but progressing out of them comes from within…or from the confidence gained in knowing that your toilet habits are not the smelliest at school.
