Summer Film ni Notte (2021)

It's a Really Good Film!

It's been a while since I've seen such a refreshing but entertaining take on the "Seishun" film.
There's so much in the film that in hindsight I'm really impressed it didn't feel overwhelming.
The acting was brilliant; particularly the FL whose facial expressions were so animated! I'm also a fan of Cody Lee so the music was also a win in my opinion. And i liked that we're not positioned to dislike any of the characters, i thought that was really beautiful.

If you're looking for a summery samurai-y film, this is it! But more than anything it's a really good film. Contrary to some comments, I liked the ending and feel like it did the film/story justice. Looking forward to rewatching!

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Homage to film making

Whoever liked the movie 13 Assassins from 2010 or the original from 1963 will also like this one even if it’s something completely different. But not only in respect to the Samurai theme, to me it works as a kind of homage to cinema and film making in general.

The enthusiastic teen protagonists pay a detailed attention to those Samurai action scenes and I think it covers the best broom-sword-wanna-be-fight in cinematic history 😉

That time machine thingy is a bit weird, but if one can see it as critique to the recent short-clip-tiktok-crap, why not…just it seems men have long hair again in the future 😊

Enjoyable summer vibe movie, good and fun actors all over. I liked how the rivals come together finally for their cinematic work for the higher goal. And yep, some small romance there also, while not being the main focus.

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I don't want to say much about the plot, or the film's main theme -- because, in the end, this is one of those films where every viewer can and must(!) find their own meaning behind what they've seen. This film expects you to find your own take -- especially the "last scene" is packed with layers upon layers of -- sometimes contradictory -- meaning.

If you saw a light teenage summer film, fine! If you saw an allegory about modern tiktok-shorts, easily consumed and easily forgotten, versus feature-length old-style slow-paced films, good! Or if you saw an essay about how similar rival relationships in classic samurai films (and also wild west movies and thriller dramas, btw) are to love relationships, also nice!
And if you saw a completely different meaning in the film, especially in the last scene -- impressive! The author is dead. It's your film as soon as you watch it.

Maybe one word about the cast -- they were all great! I love the subtle pining of Bito-Ban's, I love the banter between the technical crew of the samurai movie. And Ito Marika, who played Hadashi was overwhelmingly good -- I loved how she managed to change her body language depending on the mood and setting her character is in: Awkward and angular at school, relaxed and engaged when with her friends and when directing, focussed and precise when imitating Samurai fighting. Her facial expressions range from subtle to exaggerated. I cannot imagine another actress taking this role.

Thank you, Elisheva, for giving me the push to finally watch this film. I'm glad I did.

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