Review 2: Asako I & II

Asako I & II

Asako I & II begins with a bang and ends silently still. In between these stark contrasts is 120 minutes of pure melodrama. The film takes place over numerous years starting when the title character meets bad boy Baku in a local museum. They glance at each other over a photograph of matching twin girls holding hands in the woods and Asako follows the mystery man out onto the street outside. The two stare at each other for an uncomfortable, yet cute amount of time. When suddenly a bunch of young boys begin playing with fireworks between the couple who have still yet to speak. As the small fireworks begin to pop the film begins to slow down. We then see only the wind blowing in Asako’s hair and the couple’s matched stares. Finally, Asako approaches Baku as they introduce themselves and kiss. This insane introductory scene serves as the overall exposition for the movie. The audience only needs to know of Asako’s infatuation with Baku, nothing more.

The couple are together for roughly six months before Baku leaves, yet he promises to always come back for his first love. The film then cuts to 2 years later in a new city where Asako works as a barista. Here we are introduced to Ryohei, a working man who looks exactly like Baku. Masajiro Hagashide plays both characters, yet the two couldn’t be more different. Baku Torii is the quintessential bad boy; he drives a motorcycle, never picks up his flip-flop clad feet, should have cut his hair months ago and most importantly disappears whenever he feels like it. On the other hand, Ryohei Maruto is everything Baku is not. Ryohei is driven, educatated, sweet and more importantly, he loves Asako.

Asako and Ryohei get together through a lot of frustrating hesitation and five years later the couple are engaged and moving back to her home town. However, their happy life is complicated when Baku reappears as a popular model. Ryohei knows of Baku and considers himself lucky for his doppelgänger is the reason for the love his life. This luck is short lived as Baku comes back to retrieve Asako the day before she is set to leave with Ryohei.

In pure melodrama fashion, the intense romantic drama of the film is laced with moments of slightly unintentional comedy. Additionally, Maya who one of Asako’s friends is a professional actress who performs much of Chekov’s work. Chekov is well known for his comically tragic plays. In what should have been Asako’s closure from Baku, she frantically waves her arms as he drives away all the while screaming “Baku, bye-bye.” It’s a very sad moment as she is clearly still heartbroken, but the manner in which she moves is so strange that the moment has an element of comedy. Likewise, her childhood friend texts her and says, “you’re awful, but also kind of cool,” in what should have been a sad scene. Also, when Asako tells this same childhood that she almost looks prettier, her friend’s matter-of-fact response is simply “plastic surgery.”

The Japanese film takes inspiration from several films across the world. Its melodrama is similar to that of Douglas Sirk’s American films, it’s comedy is Chekov driven and is editing style and character ambiguity is very New Wave. One of the scenes at the end of the film is almost a direct recreations of the final scene in Truffaut’s 1959 400 Blows. Asako climbs up a highway barrier to look out onto the bleak ocean below and stares directly into the camera as her hair blows slowly through the wind. These wind shots and slowed down editing are common motifs throughout the film.  

Further, the vertical lines of highways, sidewalks, trains and landscapes play a huge part in the film. The colors and lighting are streamlined and bleak. Meanwhile most of the colors are on the cooler side of the spectrum with multiple greys and blues.

The earthquake scene in the middle of the film serves as a moment to foreshadow the ultimate ending of the film. The entire screen goes completely black for the earthquake during Maya’s play and a chandelier comes crashing down upon the stage. This bad omen also forces Ryohei and Asako to get together.

Overall, the film is one of the more uniquely visual films to premier at Cannes. The overdramatic narrative and acting styles combined with an interesting visual and editorial aesthetic make a fantastic film.

Asako I & II (Netemo Sametemo) (2018)

Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Starring Erika Karata and Masajiro Hagashide

Produced by Yuji Sadai, Masa Sawada and MK2 Films

Run Time: 120 minutes