No Call No Life (2021)

Twisted, dark, fantasy

I saw this movie yesterday and I can't get it out of my head. Aside from some of the most beautiful cinematography, No call No Life is a very deep complex story that I believe would need a second viewing as all good movies do. It's at the forefront an eerie mystery with a starcrossed romance. The cast play their roles brilliantly especially the two leads, Inoue Yuki and Yuki Mio.

I also noticed quite a few things that may be missed or overlooked.
*The theme of elements:
Earth (dirt plays a significant part in certain scenes) The characters feeling tied down to the place they live and the hope of being able to uproot oneself and start over.
Air: I believe air is represented as literal airwaves of space and time. The mystery of the odd phone calls...
Fire: Fireworks play a significant role in how the two leads meet and is used in pivotal scenes throughout the movie.
Water: This element is the main one that is symbolized in the movie. The Female lead is named Umi meaning ocean/sea. The male lead is named Harukawa meaning spring river. I don't think this a coincidence. Umi also has the surname Sakura, which are found in the springtime. Basically both Umi and Harukawa are the same (The season Spring (renewal) and the element water). Umi's cousin mentions how similar she is to Harukawa more than once and warns that them being together could only end in tragedy. Also, water is brought up a lot..from a bucket of water in a love scene, the omnipresent ocean representing escapism and freedom, a broken glass of water that leads to confession, even a water maintenance man showing up in one scene. Umi and Harukawa symbolize water afterall and this is their story.

Not everything is explained, but that's okay here and it just adds to the unsettling dark atmosphere of this film. I give it a 9/10.

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Buena para pasar el rato y no pensar mucho.

No Call no Life gira en torno al romance entre Umi Sakura, quien vive con su primo debido a que sus padres no pueden encargarse de ella, y Mahiro Harukawa, a quien todos perciben como "problemático". Aunque esta pareja no debería funcionar y todos le dicen a Umi que se aleje del chico, a ellos los une el haber vivido situaciones difíciles provocadas por adultos cuando eran pequeños.

Miren, voy a ser honesta, vi esta película porque tenía ganas de ver algo con un romance medio tóxico y personajes actuando de forma edgy... y medio que cumplió, eh jaja. A ver, no me lo tomen a mal, en cierta forma pude entender el comportamiento de los personajes y la atracción que sienten el uno por el otro, pero eso no quiere decir que estemos viendo una hermosa relación o que no haya dicho "mmmm no" en más de una ocasión con el comportamiento de Harukawa (que igual es un personaje sólido y Yuki Inoue le da vida bastante bien). En definitiva: es una historia problemática protagonizada por chicos con problemas que se apoyan entre sí aunque a veces tengan deslices, solo hay que ser conscientes de que no muestran una relación a la que aspirar.

Ahora bien, en la película también meten un misterio: la prota recibe correos de voz de un niño que parece hablarle a su madre, pero el teléfono del que provienen esos mensajes técnicamente no funciona. Esos mensajes sirven para que nuestros protagonistas se conozcan mejor, pero no me gustó que prácticamente no tuvieran explicación alguna. Entiendo que es un detonante para cuestiones de la trama, pero quedó tan en "porque sí" que me molestó.

En cuanto al final, me resultó un poco predecible y en sí no llegó a impactarme de ninguna manera porque nunca terminé de conectar bien con la trama ni con los personajes, solo me pareció una película entretenida y ya.

Eso sí, visualmente está muy buena y la banda sonora me gustó bastante. Además los actores en general no están mal. No la súper recomiendo, pero no pierden nada al verla si es que les llama la atención.

•IG DE RESEÑAS CORTAS: @altoplottwist

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Dark,twisted, edgy and toxic blue romance.

When you start this movie you feel like you're in a haze, everything is blurry and confusing. But once it unfolds, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Truckload of emotions hit you when you're unprepared.

Two lonely people try to find love when both of them have the same kind of psychological trauma. Their instant attraction turned into love and that love opened the door to freedom and escape from their traumatic past. That love made them say “I'll even go to hell as long as you're by my side”.

Beautiful cinematography, sad ill-defined plot and the chemistry between the actors is to die for. The symbolism of water/ocean throughout the movie made it prominent that their meeting and parting is related to it. The relationship between the recorded voicemails and past were tied so skillfully that you cannot assume the link between them.

Koizora, Sachiiro no one room, Drowning love and No call no life have different storylines but same genre same vibe. All of them are complex yet simple love stories of two young people.

I think I am more inclined towards those films that left a bitter aftertaste. They linger in your head for a while and make you ponder deeper which makes it more memorable. Definitely will watch it again to uncover the mystery.

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