[Film] In This Corner of the World （この世界の片隅に）

20 January 2017

“In This Corner Of The World（この世界の片隅に）"---“Suzu-san, please be your ordinary self always.”

Release Year: 2016

Country: Japan

Director: KATABUCHI Sunao（片渕須直）

Cast: NONEN Rena (a.k.a. Non)（能年玲奈 a.k.a. のん）, HOSOYA Yoshimasa（細谷佳正）, OMI Minori（尾身美詞）, ONO Daisuke（小野大輔）

Location I watched: Theatre Shinjuku（テアトル新宿）

Story:

In 1944, Suzu, an eighteen-year-old girl in Hiroshima City gets married and starts a new life with her husband and his family in a naval port city, Kure City. Despite short rations and lack of supplies, she manages to do housework for her new family and tries to maintain an ordinary daily life. But air raids on Kure City are growing in intensity day by day, and finally “that day” comes.

The director, KATABUCHI Sunao took six difficult years to complete this film. Meticulous research in Hiroshima was conducted. Crowdfunding was needed to cover a budget shortfall. Before the release, the mass media paid little attention to the film. There was no big promotion since it was not supported by mega distributors. The voice actor of Suzu, the lead protagonist, NONEN Rena a.k.a. Non has been kicked out in show business. The TV industry was reluctant to showcase her work. This film started its theatre run in November 2016 with 63 smaller cinemas. Now, the film is still showing in February 2017 with around 200 cinemas and increasing. While critics gave good reviews, this exceptional hit was accomplished by audience word of mouth, through SNS(social networking services) or real person communication. “In This Corner of the World” is an extraordinary film on that point, too.

Lobby decoration in Theatre Shinjuku, one of the cinema venues run by the film distributor, Tokyo Theatre.
They are enjoying the long and successful run of the film.

In any typical anti-war film, the story would usually climax on the day of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, or the end of the war or the death of someone closest to the protagonist or even the protagonist own death. In “In This Corner Of The World”, those incidents happen. However, those incidents do not offer catharsis to the audience in this film. Although they may be emotional scenes, the most important point of this film is a sense of life continuing. Unexpectedly, this film starts from Suzu’s childhood in 1933, when the sound of military boots was still far for ordinary citizens. War sneaked up on them, changing their life slowly and destroying everything. But the film itself does not end with the end of the war. Surviving citizens still continue to live, struggling with their daily life. Even after the war, life has to continue. This film keeps to the perspective of the ordinary citizen. It makes us, the audience feel close to them. We feel that the past they lived connects to the present we live. War cannot be a special event for them. It becomes a part of their daily life, even as it grows. We cannot make it sure that what happened to them will not happen to us. War is not a far away story, but something real and concrete. Suzu’s small wish in the film “if all my family could always live laughing…” sincerely sinks into our mind.

The sense by which we feel the closeness to the world of the film comes from the amazing details of their daily life. For example, the scenes of Suzu cooking wild grass to overcome food shortage, or how she recycles her old Kimono cloth to make a Monpe (traditional female working pants). This film also shows elaborated details of the landscape in Hiroshima City or Kure City. Although it is an animation film, reality is thoroughly pursued.

“In This Corner of the World” is a quite realistic film, but it also shows Suzu’s personal world with great imagination. The film begins with Suzu’s narration in 1933. We feel as if her voice continues throughout either through dialogue or her inner monologue. Suzu is a gentle and calm girl. Even in her monologue, she never imposes her thought or opinion on us. Listening to her slow tempo voice is comfortable for the audience. She is so humble that it is a little bit difficult to read her mind, but we do not hesitate to feel familiar with her. Suzu is also an artist; her talent is in drawing pictures. In the film, her drawings sometimes get up from the paper and fly off to the real world. It is the moment where Suzu’s real world and her imagined world blend into each other. It is a dreamy moment not only for her, but also for us. However, in the most crucial scene of the film, the moment turns to a shocking and heartbreaking one. Although the moment is the most horrible, the film expression to capture the scene is remarkable and impactful. The seamless expression between real and image is the magic of animation. When we see the world she lives from her viewpoint, her world also becomes our world.

In interviews, KATABUCHI Sunao, the director said that he wanted the audience to experience the days with Suzu there as if they took a time machine. His wish seems to have reached the audience. So a lot of people were enchanted by this film. The audience age ranged was wide, from elderlies who had experienced firsthand the World War 2 to youths who are the same age as Suzu. Perhaps for the elderlies, the details of ordinary life reminds of their own experience. Perhaps for the youths whose grandparents also have not experienced the war, it is easier to accept than other war films because they can identify with a protagonist who laughs, sorrows, loves and cries even on the home front.

One reader of a film magazine commented that “The more times you watch it, the more you will cry for it. It is a horrible film.” Although the word “horrible” was used as a joke, this film actually has enjoyed a lot of repeat audience. Even when I went to the cinema, there was a person talking about how many times he watched. One of the reasons for the repeat viewing was the elaborate description in each scene. The audience does not get easily tired from watching it.

Secondly, this film has a high density of information. Along with Suzu’s mild personality and voice, the story is expected to move forward slowly. However, the film is actually compressing a lot of information while going along quite smoothly. Explaining everything is avoided. For example, while Suzu is sewing her Monpe pants, she saw Harumi, her husband’s niece sitting next to her. Then the next shot is extra pieces from her cloth and a red string. Afterwards in later scenes, the audience notices Harumi is always carrying a cute pouch made from the same cloth as Suzu’s Monpe. Suzu made a pouch for Harumi and gave it to her, but we did not have to see such dull scenes. On the first viewing, we might not notice subtle episodes or deeper meanings hinted in each scene, like Harumi’s pouch. I think this is the second reason for repeat viewing.

However, I assume, the most important reason is that the audience feels like going to meet Suzu again. This film has a power to make the audience love what Suzu loves and seduce the audience to share joy or sadness with Suzu. Perhaps this is the point of being a “horrible” film. It is a drastic difference from a film like TAKAHATA Isao’s “Grave Of The Fireflies”. I watched “Grave Of The Fireflies” in the cinema. While I willingly admit the film is a masterpiece, I never want to watch it again. (Empire Magazine awarded “Grave Of The Fireflies” one of the top 10 all time depressing movies). But I do not mind at all watching “In This Corner Of The World” again. Are we feeling pity for Suzu or do we want to cry for Suzu? I do not think so. We, rather, want to be touched by her gentle hand, and maybe be encouraged to live.

Cover of the original sound track CD
Suzu and her in-laws

By the way, being a hard aunty, I found myself sympathizing more with Keiko than with Suzu. Keiko is Suzu’s severe sister-in-law and also Harumi’s mother. In adapting a feature-length film from the manga comic book, KATABUCHI needed to choose from the many episodes of the original story. He decided to focus on the relationship between Keiko and Suzu. I think that was the right decision. Keiko is nice… (9 February 2017)