capelight Japanese Reviews Reviews

Film Review: Whisper of the Heart (2022) by Yuichiro Hirakawa

Based on a manga by Aoi Hiiragi, Yoshifumi Kondo’s anime “” was one of the most popular anime titles of the 90s, even becoming the highest grossing Japanese film of 1995. presents his own version now, again drawing inspiration from the original story, but moving into different narrative paths. 

Whisper of the Heart is screening in select theaters in the US, courtesy of Capelight Pictures

The film unfolds in two axes, one in the present, when our main heroes, Shizuku and Seiji, are 25 years old, and one in the past, ten years before. To take things from the beginning, during their middle school years, both protagonists are extreme bookworms, who compete for who will first get the new novel from the school library. Following Shizuku’s investigation on her adversary’s identity, the two eventually meet, and realize that they have too much in common, to the point that even an antique shop the girl frequents to see a puppet-cat, happens to belong to Seiji’s father. 

Back to the present axis, the two retain a long-distance relationship for ten years, as Seiji is currently an acclaimed cello player in Cremona, Italy and Shizuku an editor in a small publishing . Both, however, strive with their lives. Seiji’s pursuit for artistic perfection is torturing him while it becomes evident that something is missing from his life while Shizuku is stuck in a job she cannot fully commit to since she still tries to pursue her dream of becoming a writer, continuously failing though. As her best friend from school, Yuko, is about to marry her highschool sweetheart, Tatuya, Shizuku is also forced to see her relationship for what it is, while a romantic prospect has also appeared in Seiji’s life. A trip to Italy makes them both face reality. 

Yuichiro Hirakawa directs a genuine Japanese drama, which is permeated though, by a happy-go-lucky atmosphere that is mostly dictated from Shizuku’s demeanor, which, funnily, is retained through both axes, and through the rather cheerful performances of who plays the younger version, and , who plays the older. Apart from that, the all-time favorite drama/romance concepts of whether it is worth following your dreams and will-they-won’t-they are the main themes of the film. However, the way the story unfolds does retain a sense of uncertainty regarding the result, which actually helps keep interest throughout the movie, although the omnipresent lagging of Japanese cinema is here once more. 

Apart from the aforementioned, Koichi Nakayama and Lorenzo Di Nola’s cinematography is expectedly bright, but the difference between Japan and Italy works quite well, both in atmosphere and visuals, with the same applying to the music, which is one of the central elements of the narrative. The way two outsiders connect through their common interests, and a potential love triangle that never actually materializes, add some additional depth, in a narrative, though, that is not exactly surprising. 

In that fashion, probably the most interesting contextual aspect is the presentation of how publishing houses work, with the interactions between chief editor, editors, and authors being quite realistic and rather interesting to watch. Further depth is also added by the highlighting of which people end up becoming editors (failed authors it seems) while the comment about Japanese work mentality, particularly regarding paid vacations is both amusing and painfully realistic. 

The majority of the movie is presented through Shizuku’s eyes, which gives the opportunity to , who plays the older Seiji to appear as cool as always, with his demeanor essentially giving him the upper hand in his interactions with Shizuku, at least until his true feelings are revealed. Overall, Matsuzaka’s charisma is once more evident throughout the movie, even if his role is not that of the protagonist this time. Furthermore, his chemistry with Seino is excellent, as much as Yasuhara with ‘s is, in one of the best aspects of the movie. 

The editing results in a leisurely, but occasionally fast pace that works quite well for the narrative, although as mentioned before, some trimming would definitely benefit the movie. 

“Whisper of the Heart” is not exactly high art, and the cheesy, teen romance moments are quite intense, to the point that the film ends up cliched in a number of ways. However, the presentation of the field of publishing, the shooting in Italy and the overall feel-good atmosphere result in a movie that is quite pleasant to watch, and that is where its true value lies. 

About the author

Panos Kotzathanasis

Panagiotis (Panos) Kotzathanasis is a film critic and reviewer, specialized in Asian Cinema. He is the owner and administrator of Asian Movie Pulse, one of the biggest portals dealing with Asian cinema. He is a frequent writer in Hancinema, Taste of Cinema, and his texts can be found in a number of other publications including SIRP in Estonia, Film.sk in Slovakia, Asian Dialogue in the UK, Cinefil in Japan and Filmbuff in India.

Since 2019, he cooperates with Thessaloniki Cinematheque in Greece, curating various tributes to Asian cinema. He has participated, with video recordings and text, on a number of Asian movie releases, for Spectrum, Dekanalog and Error 4444. He has taken part as an expert on the Erasmus+ program, “Asian Cinema Education”, on the Asian Cinema Education International Journalism and Film Criticism Course.

Apart from a member of FIPRESCI and the Greek Cinema Critics Association, he is also a member of NETPAC, the Hellenic Film Academy and the Online Film Critics Association.

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