A style of films that somewhat strays away from the family dramas is the one that, instead of “normal” people, focuses on the “losers” of society, a concept that has given us great efforts like “Lowlife Love” for example. Teppei Isobe tries his hand with such characters, in a rather interesting indie production.
Cornflakes screened at Skip City International D-Cinema Festival
Miho is an insurance salesperson who occasionally even indulges in the tricks of the profession, along with a hopeless rookie they have assigned to her for training, a young girl who tries to save money to go to Tokyo and become an actress. Miho has been living for six years with her boyfriend, Yuya, a former member of a band that has now disbanded, and now works in a rundown record shop along with two other colleagues. Yuya is not ready to give up on music, but is also not ready to do much to change his situation. The swamping of their relationship becomes an issue for Miho, who eventually erupts when she finds some messages from another girl on his phone, after a senior colleague talks to her about cheating within relationships. The two have a fight, and Miho kicks Yuya out, with him ending up in the apartment of a colleague who seems to like him, and Miho getting drunk with her colleagues and two male friends, eventually spending time with one of them, a musician who flirts with her rather openly.
Teppei Isobe deals with the life of the unremarkable those people whose life focuses almost exclusively onsurviving each day. And if for Miho this is a struggle she actually has accepted, the same does not apply to Yuya, whose lack of ambition and overall quitting attitude is the main root for the issues in their relationship. In that regard, however, Isobe comments seems to state that some distance occasionally can help in both progressing with one's life and appreciating each other, since the fact that the two of them are stuck seems to be the most significant problem in their relationship. Particularly for artists, routine can be a disaster, and Isobe highlights the fact through Yuya, whose fight with Miho and its consequences eventually prove the nudge he needed to finally take a step forward.
The overall likeability of the two protagonists helps much in communicating the aforementioned, along with the fact that both of them are good looking. Gon plays the washed-up but kind-hearted musician quite fittingly, with the same applying to Reiko Takada as the “responsible”, fed up Miho. The chemistry that derives from their antithesis is also great, while through the feelings for each other, Isobe makes them rise above the “losers” that surround them, who cannot find someone to love them.
Probably the only sole miss of the narrative comes during the night they spend apart, with the way her drunkenness works on Miho (she forgets what has happened and sobers up during the same night) being somewhat inaccurate, as is the case with Yuya's colleague, whose behaviour seems a bit too kind. These, however, are just minor glitches, and do not fault the overall narrative significantly.
Ayami Sato's cinematography is quite good, capturing the unremarkable settings the protagonists inhabit in way that adds to the narrative of the film, while the occasionally idyllic images of the night are beautiful to look at, particularly the ones featuring firecrackers. The editing allows the movie to unfold in a leisurely, quite fitting pace, while at 95 minutes, it definitely does not overextend its welcome.
“Cornflakes” is a subtle, sensitive and beautiful film that definitely justifies the audience award it received in Skip City
