Yusuke Morii's “Amiko” is a powerful film that tells the story of a young girl living in Hiroshima, Japan, who is struggling to cope with the grief and trauma within her family. The film's titular character, Amiko, is played by the talented Kana Osawa, who delivers an outstanding performance throughout.
Amiko is screening at International Film Festival Rotterdam
The film starts by introducing us to Amiko's slightly awkward yet happy family, but quickly turns things around, after her mother suffers a miscarriage. The film then deals with the aftermath of this event, and the impact it has on everyone. By itself, this isn't new, but viewing it through the lens of Amiko, a slightly quirky but honest young girl, gives it a different perspective worth exploring. Throughout the movie, she keeps on being herself, even though everyone around her is spiraling. It's heartbreaking, but the combination between her innocence and the people around her make for a very striking image.
It's very well directed, and considering this is Yusuke Morii's first feature, there could be a really promising future there. The screenplay, written by him and Natsuko Imamura is good, but does waver a little when some scenes reach too close to melodrama, without really building up to that in a natural way. It also has some trouble dividing its attention between the tragedy within the story, and truly setting its other characters apart, which is a shame because there might have been more to explore there. It does, however, handle its heavy themes really well, and the choice to view everything through Amiko's eyes is able to make the film a pretty unique. Emotionally, but also story-wise.
The cinematography by Hiroshi Iwanaga captures the bleak ambiance well, and is at times genuinely beautiful, whereas the editing by Ryo Hayano is well done, making the film well-paced at 104 minutes. While the whole cast does well, Kana Osawa as Amiko impresses the most. Her performance is fantastic, as she manages to portray the innocence and confusion that goes on within her character, without ever really coming over less than convincing, and it actively contributes to both the bleakness and honesty of the film.
Overall, Yusuke Morii's debut feature does incredibly well at making you care for its titular character. It's tragic, but its portrayal of dealing with these issues from a young age, and one of the best child performances in recent times by Kana Osawa are definitely worth a watch.
