What happens if a homeless man wins the lottery? Akihiro Takahama self-written short “Mimic” gives an entertaining answer to this fateful outline peppered with ingenious dialogue and wisdom.
Mimic is screening at Skip City International D-Cinema Festival
Morimoto lives in a cardboard box, spending his time at the park with other derelicts and looking for food in trash cans. By chance, a lottery ticket grants him a financial blessing. The first thing he wants to purchase is an apartment. But, with no valid address, he is not able to finalize the deal and Morimoto is forced to join a business that sells a magazine with the ironic title “Life theme – What’s your reason to live?” on the street. He gets a new suit, a nice haircut, and finds shelter in a capsule hotel. After some time, his employer sponsors him a flat but Morimoto does not want to become a salaryman for the company and decides to return to his old life on the street. No obligations, only freedom.
Check also this interview
What separates the homeless from the rest? Of course, a home. The conventional definition of a home does not suit Morimoto’s ideals. In the beginning, he thinks that money could be a useful tool to connect with the society that he and his friends observe every day from their shelter in the park. The more he tries to fit in, the more he realises that money cannot buy happiness. Director Takahama holds up the mirror to a seemingly desirable sense of community, which is only an illusion built up on a capitalistic rat race. Real freedom lies in oneself and cannot be built upon the expectation of others.
Designed by intelligent imagery and distinctive conversations, this only 27-minute long film entails a lot of food for thought. The social criticism of “Mimic” focuses on the monetary aspect of our lives and its influence on self-determination. Yuki Okita, known from many Yoshihiro Nakamura films (“The 47 Ronin in Debt”, 2019), plays the lead role and does an excellent job of portraying the change from a rather happy bum to an emotionally empty rich man. Another familiar face is Hiroko Horikawa, who recently participated in Mikiya Sanada‘s “Dream of Euglena” (2022) and is now playing Morimoto’s homeless friend.
The Kumamoto-born Akihiro Takahama shows his talent not only in directing but also in cinematography and script writing. After studying filmmaking at New Cinema Workshop, he created self-produced movies while working at a film distribution company. He benefits from his wide range of experience in different fields of filmmaking and “Mimic” is a prime example of this career. Although the short is Takahama’s directorial debut, it already makes the impression of an experienced director.
Based on the fact that “Mimic” is only the beginning of Akihiro Takahama’s filmmaking efforts, his fresh take on Japanese society and intuition for style are determined to bear some pretty interesting movies in the future.
