Tomoichiro Setsuda was born in 1974 in Sendai City, Miyagi. He worked at an advertising production company before becoming an assistant director. He joined NICE Co., LTD. and started working as a director after winning the Fabulous Four Commendation (the grand prize) at ADFEST 2014 for the film “A Man.” In the same year, he also won the first prize in the Short Film Asia/Pacific category at the Young Director Award at Cannes for the same film. “My Wings Became My Legs” is his latest work, which makes its international premiere at Japan Filmfest Hamburg
My Wings Became My Legs is screening at Japan FilmFest Hamburg
Three college female friends who have known each other since college get together for drinks and to play a card game called Old Maid. The three women have always had trouble getting to adulthood but by reminiscing their past and talking in detail about a number of social issues, they start to come to terms with the fact that they have to move forward.
In that fashion, the 25-minute short comprises of a series of flashbacks followed by lengthy discussions about sociophilosophical subjects, all of which, however, follow a flimsily/comedic approach. The way the three met, and some moments from their past, as in the case of the way one of the girls “stumbled upon” religion become the source of discussions, with the same applying to a funeral scene. Sex, relationships, friendship, working and earning money, expectations from others and yourself, death, religion are all commented upon in a way that seems to state that becoming an adult essentially means dealing with subjects such as these. At the same time, however, Tomoichiro Setsuda seems to state that staying children forever, is not exactly a bad thing.
Despite the seriousness of the topics, the movie is filled with humor, with one of the main ingredients of comedy here being the fact that the girls also get to play male roles, in the most obvious manner though. The Japanese style of humor, with one exhibiting baldness and the ones playing the monks having very evident prosthetics on their heads is here once more, but will probably not apply to everyone.
The chemistry the actresses exhibit is quite good, either when they are playing, discussing or fighting. Nagiko Tsui, Mutsumi Sato (who also plays the monk), Sae Kawakubo and Rina Kamei are all convincing in their parts, while exhibiting a very appealing chemistry, as if they have been actually friends forever.
The editing actually adds to the overall quirkiness with the sudden jump cuts, while resulting in a fast pace that suits the episodic nature of the narrative. The cinematography aims at realism, without any particular exaltation, although some scenes could have done with a bit less light.
“My Wings Became My Legs” is not exactly high art, but it is funny and manages to make a number of interesting comments, resulting in a rather pleasant spectacle.
