So I've never actually tried writing a movie review before, but it's always good to try and expand your skills aha! First of all, I received a complimentary ticket to go and see one of the films at the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme at the ICA yesterday. I was fortunate enough to pick a film suited to my schedule and something in which I was really interested in! I found the perfect film!
However if I'm honest, I didn't get off to a very good start... I arrived 20 minutes late for the showing, but was fortunate enough to still come in. I thought I'd missed about 20 minutes worth of the film so I went home later and rewatched the beginning - turns out I only missed about 6-7 minutes of the film! Anyways, it was a bit of struggle since entering the film late meant it was really dark and really difficult to find seats since most of the seats were all filled up and my inability to see didn't help. Fortunately, some people in front of me found some seats so I just sat beside them. If you're wondering, yes I actually went to go and see a movie by myself. Why do you ask? Well, when I first got the tickets I was just focused on getting them to be able to write something new for my blog readers! But by the time I realised I was going by myself, most people I knew were busy or well... Broke. I'm not gonna lie, it was an interesting experience going to see a film all by myself. And it wasn't even as bad as I thought it would be aha.
Anyways, onto the film. To summarise the film (I apologise for my terrible summarising skills) it's basically about a group of high school kids, who developed an interest in music in which they decide to start a band. Meanwhile, there is a guy (Hikaru Oshiro) who runs a bento shop with his mum and his wife, they also have a daughter (she's super cute). So you might be wondering? How do they link? Well, the group of high school kids who have a band, find they have nowhere to practice, so Hikaru decides to build his own studio as there aren't many available that are suitable for aspiring musicians who are high school students (which is highly relatable as many high school students wouldn't exactly have money to pay for studio time with studies etc.). Although, the usage of the studio is free, there are certain conditions which the students have to follow to be able to use the studio.
Honestly, I found this film incredibly inspiring. For teenagers, it's the time where we start trying to discover our dreams, with many of us having to decide our subjects, our career choices and more, I feel this film is highly relatable. It's also difficult to follow certain dreams due to obstacles similarly to the film where they encountered struggles such as trying to find a practice space for them to work hard and become pro. For me, as this is a musical film, I can highly sympathise with the fact that the music industry is really difficult and I honestly love music but decided to stop because I didn't believe I was capable to go any further so I stopped after secondary school. Although, I do consider music as a hobby nowadays. This film taught me to persevere with my dreams, and that you won't make it anywhere if you don't even try to do it and just assume you can't do it. This film is incredibly motivating in a way and shows how despite some of us believing adults may not understand us, this film taught me an adult's perspective, believing that there will always be someone who will support you and your dreams if others do not.
Overall, I really enjoyed this film. The music was interesting to listen to and the plot line was really intriguing, with a few laughs here and there aha. Although I can say some of the plot line was sort of expected for me, but that might be me watching too many Asian dramas and movies aha. I'm not going to lie about one thing, I totally did cry over the movie. At one moment, I felt that one tear drop slowly falling down my cheek before slowly they started to fall continuously. I'm not sure if I was the only one, but I felt I connected with the movie in many ways which may explain why I might have been so emotional. I believe if a movie is something which brings emotion and is something that allows you to identify yourself, it means it's a worthwhile movie.
What was interesting to find in the credits was that the film was inspired by a true story of the late, Hikaru Nakasone. Also, I totally enjoyed listening to Stereopony during the ending credits, I didn't realise they sung the song "Arigatou" at the end till it was mentioned in a caption. Thank goodness for English subtitles and captions aha. Stereopony were a great band, and it's unfortunate they disbanded... However, I still highly recommend taking your time to listen to them! Plus, the ending song is definitely a song I'll add to my playlist from now on! But for now, take a chance to check out the song below:
Thank you guys for reading! I hope I convinced you to try checking out this movie, because I highly recommend the movie!
