Get to the Punchline (2019)

Rena Nounen was set to be a breakout star after playing the lead in the extremely popular (and great) 2013 asadora Amachan. But she had a dispute with and left her agency (which forced her to change her name to Non) and was black-listed FOR FIVE YEARS: no broadcast TV dramas and no movie roles for that entire period in what is a demonstration of the power and control of the agency system in Japan and is, simply, a national disgrace to the point that her case has been brought up in parliament as an example of unfair working conditions in the entertainment industry.

Nevertheless, she is still well liked enough to get fairly steady work for national advertising campaigns and has launched a music career as a singer/song-writer and guitarist. And, obviously, someone liked her enough to invest in her for this movie for YouTube Originals that she wrote, directed, starred in, did the costumes for, art directed and edited. That someone also paid for an accompanying documentary series on the making of the movie called "I AM NON".

And so what we have here is, essentially, a student film shot on a thirteen day shooting schedule with a professional crew led by a wildly creative young woman who has, apparently, never heard of these strange things called film schools. Given all of the above saying anything bad about this film would be like punching a kitten.

It is a fairly simple story of a high school senior trying to understand why her grandmother has left the household and also trying to figure out what to do with her life while being tempted by and distracted by the forest spirits (yokai) around her. There are no real surprises here, and the editing would probably be tighter in more experienced hands. However, Non does have a strong visual sense as a director and is a charming actress. The story has Ghibli-esque aspirations and largely succeeds at evoking the wonder of a young woman discovering her power as an artist (both within the story and outside via the making of the film).

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