Photography, both as an activity and as a concept that can lead to a number of metaphors (memory for example) is one of the most frequent themes to be found in cinema. Yohei Osabe, who has a background in advertising, directs a short that revolves around the concept, through a trip a father and a son take.
“Toma #2” is screening at Osaka Asian Film Festival
The story unfolds through various flashbacks, some of which point towards Toma's childhood and others just a bit before the main timeframe, which has the man driving his father to a care facility in Chiba. In a road movie style, that allows for the presentation of the picturesque locations the duo pass through, father and son visit various settings, with each one also bringing back memories for Toma. The most central one is the discovery of the titular camera, which is the first he ever got as a child, as a present of his father, just after making one out of paper on his own. In that fashion, his father is essentially presented as the one that gave him the incentive to eventually become a professional photographer, although Yohei Osabe also includes scenes that show that not everything was exactly rosy in their relationship.
As such, photography here functions both as an instrument of remembrance and of nostalgia, particularly in the past time frames included in the story, and as something that shows how the father has lost his grip with his previous life, thus justifying his placement in the nursing home. This aspect also makes another comment regarding an issue that is becoming more and more dire for one of the most aged countries in the world, the caring of the elderly.
The excellent cinematography and the music also add to the aforementioned sentiments, in a film that is quite easy both to the eye and to the ear. Truth be told, that last five minutes of the 20-minute short, which essentially present just photographs, could have been omitted, but this is an aspect that in no way hampers the sense the movie leaves at the end.
Lastly, Takashi Yamanaka as Toma and Kyusaku Shimada as his father give very fitting performances, with particularly the transformation of the latter being among the best assets of the movie.
“Toma #2” is a very pleasant short, that particularly highlights Osabe's eye for composition, while definitely showing that he is a filmmaker that would definitely deserve to make a feature soon.
