Although now known as the writer/director of “Life: Untitled” and as the writer of two episodes of “The Naked Director”, Kana Yamada had also found the theatrical group ROJI9 in 2010 and had directed and wrote a number of shorts beforehand. 29 minutes-long “Shinjuku Girl” is one of those films.
Shinjuku Girl is streaming on TodoiF
The titular character is a girl who is trying to make a career as an internet persona (idol if you prefer), although a number of her audience seem to only want to see her naked. At the same time, she still holds a grudge on her ex-boyfriend, which she shares with a friend in a rather loud club in Shinjuku as the movie begins. Eventually, after much drinking and fending off drunken salary men who want to have sex with her, she calls him. When he does not answer, she decides to go to the apartment he lives in, only to find that a different girl has the keys to it now. In an absurd decision, he decides to climb the fence to enter from the window.
Films about quirky characters who end up involved in extreme situations is not exactly an exception in Japanese cinema, particularly in the independent industry. However, most of the time, the approach in these kinds of movies is that of the slow-burning art-house, with a few exceptions that end up being the highlights of these movies. Kana Yamada, however, shoots a film that stands out particularly because it unfolds in a completely different path, filled with tension, with the calm scenes actually being the ones in the minority.
In that regard, the scene in the bar, the home invasion and particularly the burning of underwear, the sudden decision to leave and the lashing out that closes the movie, induce the narrative with a very welcome “nerve” that ends up carrying the short from beginning to end. The same applies to the music-video like approach in the depicting of Shinjuku, with the intense color, the fast-paced music and the speed everyone moves adding to the aforementioned sense. The main mediums of this approach are both Kotoha Hiroyama's fittingly overboard acting (and the performances of the rest of the cast for that matter) as much as the occasionally frantic editing.
At the same time, through this approach, Yamada manages to make a number of social comments. The concept of idols, the setting of Shinjuku and particularly the attitude of the drunken salarymen, the fact that what everyone seems to want from the protagonist is sex, and the bad decisions alcohol drinking frequently lead to are all highlighted here, in the most delightful fashion. At the same time, the presentation of a girl that is essentially unremarkable and just frustrated by how life in Japan is for a woman, adds a very significant layer of realism in the film that also works well for the narrative, as much as the need she feels to escape in any way.
“Shinjuku Girl” is a rather pleasant film to watch, particularly because it strays away from the norms of Japanese indie cinema due to the tension that permeates the narrative.
