I Wish

Lighthearted but profound Japanese family drama about two young brothers forced to live apart after the separation of their parents. The more sensitive Koichi (Koki Maeda) lives with his mother and grandparents in Kagoshima under the shadow of the active Sakurajima volcano, while the happy-go-lucky Ryu (Ohshirô Maeda) has remained in Fukuoka with their slacker musician father. Koichi longs for them to be reunited and when he hears of a magical rumour that when two super-fast Bullet trains pass each other they create enough cosmic energy to grant your wish, he and his friends set out to put things back the way they were.

The suburban tale of a troubled family told with a touch of fantasy and adventure draws obvious parallels with Spielberg, and it is more than worthy of the comparison. Director Hirokazu Koreeda elicits two incredibly natural performances from the boys (real life brothers) and indeed all of the young cast – in the scenes where they're hanging out he has seemingly turned the camera on some local school friends, their relationships seem so genuine. Koichi and Ryu's story is interspersed with those of their friends and family, all of whom have their own struggles and aspirations. Be it their grandfather's desire to bake a successful sponge cake, or Koichi's friend's dream of marrying the beautiful school librarian, every character – no matter how minor – is portrayed as a real person with their own hopes and fears. As a result it is constantly engrossing, establishing an affinity with everyone on screen and also allowing some fantastically warm funny moments to emerge from the characters themselves. Despite its concentration on character over narrative, and its general unpredictability, the film still has a mainstream tone and is more than capable of cultivating a wide, varied audience.

A quiet natural film that avoids obvious melodrama and sentimentality, it retains a thoughtful depth about what it is to dream and hope for that which is just out of reach. As is often the case with the most affecting cinema its power lies in what the viewer brings to it from their own lives, and how much they are willing to invest in the film. With no obvious moral or message, it has the potential to be interpreted in many ways. A philosophical yet thoroughly accessible film that effortlessly gets under the skin.

Pre-teen brothers Ryunosuke and Koichi (played by real-life brothers Ohshirô and Koki Maeda) are forced to live apart when their separated parents end up residing in opposite ends of Kyushu. Ryunosuke broods on this, while Koichi seems more at ease with the arrangements. Together, the brothers hatch a plan to meet at the point where the new shinkansen trains pass each other, after hearing an urban legend that the vortex created by the speed of the trains has the power to grant wishes. Meanwhile, granddad tries out a new sponge cake recipe, a friend of Koichi's has acting ambitions, and Dad is writing a new song.

The usual Kore-eda themes of fractured families and kids finding magic in a flawed universe are present, but by the director's own standards this is a much lighter, almost sugar-coated engagement with those themes. There is the signature naturalistic, engrossing performances from the child actors, with Ohshirô as Ryunosuke especially impressive in his conflicted, caring attempts to be re-united with his brother. Koki is more of a one-note outing, required to be relentlessly upbeat, which he does superbly. The scene where he moves his mother to tears on the phone plays on this astutely. Forcing two young brothers to live apart for their own selfish ends could be represented in darker tones, even as abuse, but Kore-eda keeps it all light and humorous, through the simple trope of having the children be sensible and down-to-earth, and the adults, especially the bickering parents, petty and immature. The sub-plots, involving sponge cake and acting ambitions, are so removed from the main story strand that they give the film an episodic, slightly meandering feel when they pop up. Ultimately they are distracting, making the story busier than it needs to be. They also stretch the running time to over two hours. While some will delight in spending time with such engaging children, the film felt flabby to me after the 90-minute mark. The ending, while admirably avoiding sentimentality, takes too long to come around.

Such is Kore-eda's stature that a host of A-listers pack the minor roles giving them more gravitas than normal. Jô Odagiri as the musician father, Kirin Kiki as the grandmother, and Hiroshi Abe as a disciplinarian teacher ply their day-shifts admirably.

There is a lot to enjoy in I Wish, but lacking the damning social critique of Nobody Knows, and the acerbic scalpel on family life of Still Walking, this is Kore-eda choosing to crowd please rather than stretch himself.

I've been impressed with Koreeda's work in the past. "Maborosi" and "After Life" are two excellent, deeply philosophical and moving films. Maybe based on those I had unrealistically high expectations (further inflated by the DVD box boasting a dozen rave reviews & awards), but "I Wish" failed to deliver.

One hour into this 2-hour movie I had to shut it off. Since I didn't watch the whole thing I can't fairly rate it, but I wanted to share my (unpleasant) experience because I wish someone had warned me the same way. This was the first time in my life I've ever shut off a movie from sheer boredom. No, boredom isn't the word. It was more a feeling of total disconnection. The scenes, perhaps attempting to recreate the disconnected, ADD-type thought process of little kids, were so unrelated and random that I became irritated.

Like my title suggests, if you want to see a truly magical film about youth, innocence and the not-so-innocent, hunt down a film called "Kikujiro" (1999). More about that later. First let's talk about "I Wish".

Here is a breakdown of the first hour. Each scene lasts 2-5 minutes. At any time if you become bored, skip to the last paragraph of my review.

Scene 1) a boy grabs a washcloth and cleans his desk. Scene 2) The boy's mother is talking about meaningless things while the grandmother makes random gestures in the air, saying "I'm the wind. I'm a ghost. Etc..." Scene 3) The boys walk to school and complain about the hill. Scene 4) Kids are scolded by a teacher for not doing their homework properly. Scene 5) Kids are in the hall complaining about the teacher. Scene 6) Back to the mother and grandparents talking about vegetable gardens. Scene 7) Jump to some other kids at a swimming pool. Scene 8) The boy stares blankly at his homework assignment. Scene 9) A bunch of old men talk about baking a cake for the festival. Scene 10) The boys are back in school ogling the librarian's legs. Scene 11) The boy's father wakes up, strums a guitar and goes back to sleep. Scene 12) The kids gather and talk about acting.

While I hesitate to call the movie "bad" because I didn't watch it all the way through, I can definitely conclude that the first hour didn't provide enough substance to convince me to keep watching. And trust me, I like slow movies (2001, Werckmeister Harmonies, Hitchcock's Rope). Instead of watching "I Wish", I HIGHLY recommend a Japanese film called "Kikujiro" which this movie seemed to be imitating. However, even though it is slow paced, "Kikujiro" wastes no scenes. They all relate to each other, build upon each other and eventually lead you to a powerful message by the time the film ends. The music in "Kikujiro" (composed by the Japanese master Joe Hisaishi) is also leagues above the mediocre soundtrack of "I Wish", another turnoff. Maybe one day I'll go back & finish the last hour of this film and revise this review if I feel differently. But all the same, I'd rather spend my time watching something else.

If, as many have pointed out, Koreeda is Ozu's cinematic heir, then I Wish is Koreeda's take on Ozu's Good Morning. Both films focus on adorable young kids and Japanese family life, and I have no qualms about saying between the two films, Koreeda easily outdoes Ozu. Not only is Koreeda's depiction of children subtler and more intuitive (no fart jokes here), but he coaxes wonderfully naturalistic performances from his child actors. Is there a director alive who does better work with kids than Koreeda? The movie really takes flight once the kids hit the road on their quest, and I loved the Ozu-ish part where they meet an elderly couple that takes in all the children for a night. Just a wonderful movie with tons of heart. Puts the human in humanistic filmmaking.

This is the story of two young Japanese brothers who live apart following the break-up of their parents' relationship. The older boy dreams of his family reuniting and prays for a miraculous intervention in the form of a volcanic eruption, hoping this might lead to his evacuation from his grandparents' region and a return home. Then, when he discovers that the passing of the speeding Bullet trains, approaching from opposite directions, creates a 'cosmic' moment during which wishes are granted, he sets out with a few friends to meet his brother at the meeting point on the railway line. There they make their wishes - with varying results.

The two brothers are forced to deal with the consequences of their parents' choices, ones they have had no part in making. Their belief, to varying degrees, in the power of 'faith' (believing that wishes can come true) then leads them to have to face the consequences of their own choices. Given their youthful immaturity, there is real poignancy in witnessing their confrontation with some harsh realities.

The movie features brilliant performances from the young actors and an excellent supporting cast of adults. There is also gorgeous and evocative cinematography, scenes of the Japanese countryside and its urban impositions, not least the Bullet line itself elevated on its concrete trackbed.

It takes some time, too long perhaps, for the story to gain momentum. But once the youngsters embark on their journey to meet the trains, the story moves at a brisker, more engaging pace. The climax (yes there is a climax, contrary to the view of another reviewer) brings moments of intense beauty and sharp sadness, regret for the loss of childish innocence of as well as optimism in the hope for a better future.

So this is a slow-burner, but persistence brings rewards. Recommended.

(Viewed at The Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK 21.02.13)