Director Soshi Matsumoto feature-length debut “It's a Summer Film!” comes after a series of commercials, music videos and TV, and had its world premiere at the 2020 Tokyo International Film Festival. Co-written with Naoyuki Miura, the film is an original mix of genres and a feel-good experience.
It's a Summer Film! is screening at Nippon Connection
Barefoot (Marika Ito) is a high school student with a passion for Japanese period dramas, more precisely for classic Chanbara, samurai films. After being introduced as a child to “Zatoichi” by her grandmother, her passion grew stronger and stronger. Together with her girlfriends Kickboard (Yumi Kawai) a science fiction geek from the Astronomy Club, and Blue Hawai (Kilala Inori) a fierce Kendo Club member, they spend many afternoons watching samurai movies in their secret den, an abandoned van stuffed full of DVDs, books, posters – and a turtle – discussing passionately about old movies, rating the sex appeal of actors such as Shintaro Katsu and Raizo Ichikawa and mimicking cinematic duels swinging umbrellas like katanas.
As a member of the school Film Club, Barefoot submits her script “Spring Samurai”, hoping to be chosen and given the funds to produce her film for the end of year festival. But, guess what? All the votes go to the other contestant, the sappy romantic film “I Can't Help Loving You”, written, directed and starred by cute Karin (Mahiru Coda) with the aid of her adoring crew. Despite her friends' encouragement to pursue the samurai dream regardless, Barefoot is discouraged and sad; not only she hasn't got money for the project, but neither a crew nor an actor for the leading role of Inotaro. Searching solace at a screening of an old movie in a small cinema, she notes a fellow samurai fan in the audience who could be a perfect Inotaro. He is Rintaro (Daichi Kaneko), reluctant at first but forcefully persuaded by Barefoot to play the hero of her film. Certainly, he is a weird guy; he has never seen a marshmallow … where the hell does he come from?
The latest – and certainly not the last – of a long line of Japanese movies about schoolgirls, school clubs ad summer festivals, “It's a Summer Film!” arrives carrying with it a refreshing gust of novelty. A bit meta-film and a bit coming of age tale, with a good dose of comedy, a handful of nostalgic love for Chanbara and a pinch of sci-fi, it creates and intriguing mix that is no other than a fervent and heartfelt homage to filmmaking and to a genre that sadly is no longer fully appreciated by younger generations. There is something very refreshing in watching three schoolgirls loving so intensely the classic movies of the sword fighting tradition, mocking the actors' expressions and the fights' choreography; it certainly scrambles one or two stereotypes and it adds a new element to the nerdy fun of playing “spot-the-reference”.
The film's first two thirds indulge in a tongue in cheek ridicule of the rom-coms that flood the market and that the majority of teenagers seem to adore. The repetitive, cheesy lines, the cliché settings, the all-pink, over-enthusiastic crew, the star of “I Can't Help Loving You” looking like straight out of a shojo manga, they all have a powerful comedic effect, but the movie is clever enough not to over-do on this line and especially not to dwell on the antagonism between the two “factions”. In fact, in the last segment of the narration, something that goes beyond the genres and the personal taste starts to create a dialogue between the two film crews, based on the common love of cinema, and the sheer pleasure of filmmaking and team playing. Particularly effective in this regard are the scenes of the editing and post-production of the two films; both crews in the same room in specular positions, working, playing interacting and flirting.
And yes, after all that fuss, “It's a Summer Film!” ends up being – surprise surprise! – a romantic comedy, merging a bit of teenager hormonal storm with the intrinsic romanticism of Samurai stories and sword duels imbued with idealism and chivalry. The screening at the Festival of the two movies and the final – and, I must say, unexpected – showdown are a beautiful ode to love, wherever is placed.
For the whole duration, no adults are in sight (bar a cycling passer-by on set); kids own this film and do it with flare. The two protagonists Marika Ito and Daichi Kaneko have reasonable chemistry. Ito with her tomboyish features is a perfect cast for the goofy Barefoot and Kaneko performs an excellent transformation from shy-for-a-reason to confident on-screen samurai. The rest of the cast is good, funny and entertaining. Matsumoto's direction is bold and confident, surely due to tons of skills acquired on his previous rich and diverse experience on commercials, music videos and TV. Hiroshi Iwanaga's and Hironori Yamazaki's cinematography has the brightness of the summer holidays and the few visible scenes of the film-in-the-film “Spring Samurai” are a real joy to watch.
“It's a Summer Film!” is a summer film; warm, fun, bright, cheerful. An entertaining movie that dares talking to audiences that wouldn't expect to be pleased by a unique rom-com.
