Although he became instantly famous with his documentary about his father, “Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus”, it seems that Neo Sora has a lot more to give, as his feature debut, “HappyEnd”, which has already made a significant festival run, is brilliant.
HappyEnd is screening at Hawai’i International Film Festival
In a slightly futuristic setting, where advertisements and news are being broadcasted on the sky and on buildings, and smartphones are used as tracking devices, with the police implementing face-recognition by snapping photos of people, we meet our two main protagonists. Yuta and Kou are best friends, running the music club in their highschool, and as the movie begins, they are trying to get into an underground Dj set, eventually tricking their way into it, since they are still underage. Soon, the police arrive and the difference between the two friends becomes painfully apparent. Since Kou is Zainichi Korean, the police ask for his papers, while Yuta is being let go with just a photo of his face.
A bit later, a prank in school involving principal’s Nagai’s cherished car turns attention to the two boys and their gang, which includes Tomu, Ming and Ata-chan, all members of the music club. While the research, which also involves the police, does not result in anything conclusive, the principal soon passes a new school law through the Board, installing cameras all over the premises, which actually follow the students non-stop and giving them penalties based on a point system every time they break the rules. In the meantime, and as an attack on the PM during one of his speeches has put the whole country in turmoil, Kou starts hanging out with a girl he likes, Fumi, who is associated with a group of activists. As his political conscience wakes up, he finds himself moving away from Yuta, who is desperate to keep things as they are.
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Neo Sora has shot a film that is rather multi-leveled, to the point that frequently it functions as parable/metaphor/allegory, with essentially all characters and events hiding some sort of symbolism. The racism Zainichi Koreans have been facing for generations are personified in Kou, while Yuta seems to represent the current youths who seem to care very little about anything else apart from entertainment. At the same time, his insistence on nothing changing, despite the changes that take place around him, could be perceived as the overall mentality of a country which is quite stuck in the past on a number of levels, as with the issue of immigration for example.
The way the principal uses first the threat of the earthquake and then what he describes as a terrorist act in order to establish a surveillance system that essentially gives him more control, is indicative of the practices of many governments around the world, in a concept that unfortunately, is not restricted only to fundamentalist regimes. His racism, and the way he expresses it, is also indicative of the way it creeps into ‘normal” people, and is exploited by others. The way the PM reacts also moves in the same direction, while the role the police plays is also highlighted, although not in a particularly pointed way. Fumi and the activist group she attends is indicative of similar groups in Japan nowadays, but also shows why their impact is so miniscule. The fact that Kou is essentially drawn to the whole concept due to him liking Fumi can also be perceived as a comment on the aforementioned aspect.
At the same time though, the main characters in particular are thoroughly analyzed, additionally as individuals and not just as ‘metaphors’. Kou’s coming of age in particular is quite impactful to watch, with the effect his feelings for Fumi and his ancestry have resulting in a rather interesting persona, excellently portrayed by Yukito Hidaka. Yuta’s somewhat privileged tendencies and his nihilistic view on the world are equally intriguing, with Hayato Kurihara being excellent in the role too. The way the coming-of-age of the two boys affects their friendship is one of the central themes in the movie, while it benefits the most by the antithetical chemistry of the two.
Fumi is another very interesting character, particularly in the way her idealism and activist tendencies make her stand out in school, frequently in a way that deems her an eccentric, while the ambiguity regarding whether she really likes Kou or she just wants to draw her to ‘the cause” create a very appealing ambiguity. Kirara Inori presents all these elements in rather convincing fashion. Lastly, Principal Nagai is another captivating persona in the way he increases his power by using ‘soft’ methods, initially at least, with him highlighting how authorities function these days, as they also try not to be deemed ‘the bad guy’. Shiro Sano is exceptional in the part.
Bill Kirstein’s frequently desaturated cinematography is the main indication that this is a futuristic setting. At the same time, the visuals follow mostly realistic paths, with the exception of the impact of screens in the story, which is also grounded in reality though. Albert Tholen’s editing results in a mid-tempo that works well for the narrative, although the ever-present lagging of Japanese movies, close to the end, appears here too.
This, however, is just a small issue in a film that is brilliantly shot and rather well-planned, with the presentation of the comments and the characters being top-notch. Definitely one of the best films of the year.
