Many filmmakers who've experienced success with a short film are tempted to pad the initial project out into a feature. However, in the case of Japanese director Mayu Nakamura, she's taken the key themes and filmmaking principles of her successful short “Among Four of Us” (2021) and produced the touching anthology, “She is Me, I am her”. In just a brisk 70 minutes, the film explores loneliness, life in post-pandemic Japan, and the importance of human connection. Minor spoilers follow.
She is Me, I am Her is screening at Asian Pop-Up Cinema Sophia's Choice
The film is made up of four short films; the first, “Among Four of Us”, follows a phone call between three former college friends reuniting, while the second, “Someone to Watch Over Me”, concerns the relationship that develops between a delivery driver and a regular customer. With the third short, “Ms. Ghost”, we see two street workers of different generations share their stories of lost dreams, before the feature rounds out with “Deceive Me Sweetly”, which follows a blind woman targeted by a scammer.
A running theme touched on in each short film is the lack of social connection between people and how that looks in the modern world. The three friends in “Among Four of Us” appear to be sitting with one another when we first begin eavesdropping on their conversation, but it soon becomes apparent that each person is isolated. This surprising reveal is deftly handled by Nakamura through the shot composition, editing, and pacing. The juxtaposition of these three friends having such a personal and revealing conversation with their sizeable distance between each other is notable, as is the sense of unfulfillment and lack of comfort that comes from each of the characters.
By contrast, the conversation between the blind woman and her scammer in “Deceive Me Sweetly” is extremely intimate, despite them being complete strangers. The closeness of the actors and the physical touching of the scammer's face make for sensual moments of connection that are rather moving. Such displays of human intimacy, whether wanted or not, permeate the anthology, calling to mind questions concerning the nature of modern relationships, privacy, and the perseverance of loneliness in a world where everyone is connected.
Each short also explores the aftermath and effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, although this is never the focus of the narrative. In the second short, “Someone to Watch Over Me”, a young woman's existing loneliness is exacerbated, as the need to go outside is reduced in a post-COVID world. Similarly, the two street workers in “Ms. Ghost” have each had their livelihoods and opportunities stifled by the pandemic and are suffering the consequences. Each short tackles the disconnection between people, which is something that is intrinsically linked to the pandemic and its effects. While COVID is never dealt with directly, Nakamura's study of the real-life effects of the pandemic on the lives of average citizens is poignant.
Every short film features a new cast with the exception of the recurring figure of Nahana. There's a lot sitting on the actor's shoulders as she fronts up each short with a completely different character. Each performance is so unique, and some of the costuming so distinct, that you'd be forgiven for not recognizing the actor immediately. Standing out alongside Nahana is Masao Yoshii, whose turn as the bumbling, awkward delivery man is complemented with dark undertones, while our lead and Miyoko Asada share a beautiful moment as they recite a scene from Anton Chekov's “The Seagull”.
Thanks to strong and varied central performances from Nahana and nice thematic continuity, “She is Me, I am her” succeeds as an anthology. Aside from the occasional and successful dabble with surreal imagery, Mayu Nakamura displays restraint in both her narrative and directorial approach, resulting in four visually coherent and emotionally affecting short films
