The themes of Nobu Takahashi‘s “The Flower of Midsummer Night” are ones that have become more and more prominent over recent years, and five years on perhaps seem even more relevant, and not just to Japan.
The Flower of Midsummer Night is screening at Japan FilmFest Hamburg
Yang Yang (Hayashi Kouki) lives with his Taiwanese single mother Wang Li (Umefune Ariei) who works nightshifts at an eatery. As such, Yang Yang spends his evenings at a night nursery as his mother struggles to get by. His father Yang Hao (Jack Li) is an artist whose lack of financial stability drove the pair apart. Forbidding Yang Yang from spending time with his father, a chance encounter sees a father-son bond still strong.
Set in the Osaka nightlife district of Namba, this makes the most of its setting, with some brilliant use of the neon lights of the area. Shots are a haze of bright colours against the night sky, much like the fireworks that serve as a connecting object for the family. Though this is not the life Wang Li expected from coming to Japan. Unexpectedly pregnant by a man without responsibilities, she is constantly tired and frustrated. Her life is one of stress, lonely as she cleans up after a night shift. Yang Yang seems to have no grounding as a result, happy to drift off on his own whenever he gets the chance, causing further stress to his mother. He is a child with his mother’s sensitivity, but his father’s care-free spirit.
While a story of immigrant workers in Japan, this does not dominate, and is more incidental as a story of those struggling to get by, though is an obvious point throughout. Wang Li is a woman having to fight for everything, let down by those around her.
With its use of flashback revelations and re-telling of events from the perspective of each, there is a hint of a Rashomon effect, as the mother, father and child himself give their perspective on the events that led to the father and son reuniting. This packs a lot into its short runtime, with some good and well-developed storytelling.
Kouki steals the show as Yang Yang, with the right balance of naivety and cocksure arrogance seen in children of that age. Though the artificial landscape of Osaka’s nightlife gives him a run for his money.
Hope can bloom out of the darkness, and Takahashi certainly brings a little light to this not always happy situation.
