May I level with you? This writer has a soft spot for Aoi Yu and a fondness for Odagiri Joe. Aoi is a talented actress who has as many memorable films as she has appearances. There are too many to name, but from the remarkable ballet scene in Hana To Arisu, to the tragedy and tenderness in Ototo and the infamous Riri Shushu No Subete she has been the definition of touching and extraordinary. Even flying in the shadow of Tokyo Story's pixie dust in Tokyo Kazoku ('Tokyo Family') she was a sympathetic, tender and pure Noriko. Then there is her incredible role in Shokuzai ('Penance'), but enough said. Odagiri Joe, on the other hand, is in my other Japanese favourite film, Tenten. With all that said, Oba Fensu ('Over The Fence') features both actor and actress. Does one plus one equal two or more?
In this final chapter of the so-called Hakodate Trilogy of novelist Sato Yasushi, which also includes Sketches Of Kaitan City (2010) and The Light Shines Only There (2014), two uncommon characters fall for each other in Northern Japan. Shiraiwa is divorced and in many ways forging a new path in life. He is in a new place, learning new skills, making new friends and the being introduced to new opportunities. He apparently lives in the same dingy room as he did in the film Tenten. Enter Satoshi who by all rights is exactly what annoys men about women. She is erratic, artsy, dramatic, needy of attention or just needy, out-of-control, littering and embarrassing. She is literally cuckoo beginning with the first scene she is in. Well, perhaps those are good things or perhaps they are good things when portrayed so seamlessly by Aoi. She is wonderfully persuasive – yet again – and substantial in her roles. The pair's official first meeting is at a hostess club where she works and entertains - as persuasively as she performed in Hura Garu and Hana To Arisu - and where he is a customer one night. Which night club hires a bird impersonator? Expressive dances are the stuff of drama school and feminist hideout stages, not hostess clubs where the owner is trying to attract men to drink. This is one of the several problems with the film. From here on the story is uneven and hardly the stuff of universal truths. For one thing he has broken free from a crazy woman to now join with another out-of-control female, but when the romance develops and takes tentative flight by the two superficially contrasting people the force of the actors' talent makes for the entertainment of curiosity. One is immersed in the story and wants to know more. Yet, is it really reasonable that having broken free from the clutches of a criminally insane woman one would find comfort with another who at a whim throws a mug at the glass and deliberately breaks the window from the inside? Then there is the matter of being with a woman who constantly makes fowl impressions and swirls as if crazed. Then there is the woman who casually attempted infanticide, yet is back in polite society and not only all is cool, but in fact it is she who condemns others. In this film, however, they are not the only two who are 'over the fence.' This is where the man, the main female character and the rest of them all go over the fence. Why these people fall for one another is inexplicable except for the fact that every one of them is crazy. It applies to all of them. Over The Fence was premiered in Canada as part of the Toronto Japanese Film Festival, an event that has taken wings to such an extent that Japanese super star Odagiri himself was present at the screening. Incidentally, thanks to the very excited and obvious groupie who made the Q&A and night more memorable.
A few points are remarkable enough to conclude the review. The sound of Hakodate in the film is a creepy marine music. Is that really the supposed ambient sound of the city? The baseball subplot ends up serving a purpose, which for a while was not obvious, but one recalls that baseball scenes and stories were forced on Japanese cinema by the US occupation forces after World War II as a form of cultural manipulation and imposition. Interestingly, Odagiri was wearing a Che Guevara shawl for the screening in Toronto and admitted his fondness for the man and his achievements. Finally, and particularly to this feature and also generally, where one cannot maintain a soft spot is how so many Japanese films like this one must skirt local language titles and go with an English bastardization instead. These are Japanese in Japan telling local stories. Is it difficult for Japanese cinema, and culture in general, to dispense with the forced foreign vernacular?
In this final chapter of the so-called Hakodate Trilogy of novelist Sato Yasushi, which also includes Sketches Of Kaitan City (2010) and The Light Shines Only There (2014), two uncommon characters fall for each other in Northern Japan. Shiraiwa is divorced and in many ways forging a new path in life. He is in a new place, learning new skills, making new friends and the being introduced to new opportunities. He apparently lives in the same dingy room as he did in the film Tenten. Enter Satoshi who by all rights is exactly what annoys men about women. She is erratic, artsy, dramatic, needy of attention or just needy, out-of-control, littering and embarrassing. She is literally cuckoo beginning with the first scene she is in. Well, perhaps those are good things or perhaps they are good things when portrayed so seamlessly by Aoi. She is wonderfully persuasive – yet again – and substantial in her roles. The pair's official first meeting is at a hostess club where she works and entertains - as persuasively as she performed in Hura Garu and Hana To Arisu - and where he is a customer one night. Which night club hires a bird impersonator? Expressive dances are the stuff of drama school and feminist hideout stages, not hostess clubs where the owner is trying to attract men to drink. This is one of the several problems with the film. From here on the story is uneven and hardly the stuff of universal truths. For one thing he has broken free from a crazy woman to now join with another out-of-control female, but when the romance develops and takes tentative flight by the two superficially contrasting people the force of the actors' talent makes for the entertainment of curiosity. One is immersed in the story and wants to know more. Yet, is it really reasonable that having broken free from the clutches of a criminally insane woman one would find comfort with another who at a whim throws a mug at the glass and deliberately breaks the window from the inside? Then there is the matter of being with a woman who constantly makes fowl impressions and swirls as if crazed. Then there is the woman who casually attempted infanticide, yet is back in polite society and not only all is cool, but in fact it is she who condemns others. In this film, however, they are not the only two who are 'over the fence.' This is where the man, the main female character and the rest of them all go over the fence. Why these people fall for one another is inexplicable except for the fact that every one of them is crazy. It applies to all of them. Over The Fence was premiered in Canada as part of the Toronto Japanese Film Festival, an event that has taken wings to such an extent that Japanese super star Odagiri himself was present at the screening. Incidentally, thanks to the very excited and obvious groupie who made the Q&A and night more memorable.
A few points are remarkable enough to conclude the review. The sound of Hakodate in the film is a creepy marine music. Is that really the supposed ambient sound of the city? The baseball subplot ends up serving a purpose, which for a while was not obvious, but one recalls that baseball scenes and stories were forced on Japanese cinema by the US occupation forces after World War II as a form of cultural manipulation and imposition. Interestingly, Odagiri was wearing a Che Guevara shawl for the screening in Toronto and admitted his fondness for the man and his achievements. Finally, and particularly to this feature and also generally, where one cannot maintain a soft spot is how so many Japanese films like this one must skirt local language titles and go with an English bastardization instead. These are Japanese in Japan telling local stories. Is it difficult for Japanese cinema, and culture in general, to dispense with the forced foreign vernacular?
