Like Someone in Love (2012)

Director:

Abbas Kiarostami

Writer:

Abbas Kiarostami (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 September 2012 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

In Tokyo, a young prostitute develops an unexpected connection with a widower over a period of two days. |

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Young Woman | Mistaken Identity | Grandfather | Old Man

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Tadashi Okuno	...	Takashi Watanabe
Rin Takanashi	...	Akiko
Ryo Kase	...	Noriaki
Denden	...	Hiroshi
Reiko Mori	...	Nagisa
Kaneko Kubota	...	Akiko's grandmother
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ryota Nakanishi	...	Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Abbas Kiarostami

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Abbas Kiarostami		screenplay

Produced by
Charles Gillibert	....	producer
Nathanaël Karmitz	....	producer
Abbas Kiarostami	....	producer

Cinematography by
Katsumi Yanagijima

Sound Department
Mohammad Reza Delpak	....	sound re-recording mixer
Reza Narimizadeh	....	sound editor

Visual Effects by
Nicolas Marcos	....	visual effects

Editorial Department
Shogo Yokoyama	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Elise Luguern	....	music clearances

Other crew
Shogo Yokoyama	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Euro Space
• MK2 Productions

Distributors

• Euro Space (2012) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Feelgood Entertainment (2012) (Greece) (theatrical)
• IFC Films (2012) (USA) (theatrical)
• MK2 Diffusion (2012) (France) (theatrical)
• Sundance Selects (2012) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Wild Bunch Benelux (2013) (Netherlands) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs  funding
• Studio Moon  sound post-production

Also Known As:

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

France | Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:9 | Hong Kong:I | USA:Not Rated | South Korea:15

Filming Locations:

Tokyo, Japan

Company:

Euro Space

Trivia:

The inspiration for the film came from one of Kiarostami's visits to Japan.

Quotes:

Takashi:Whatever will be will be.

A peculiar relationship dissected as subtly as possible

"Like Someone in Love" is Abbas Kiarostami's follow-up to the mind- bending relationship drama "Certified Copy". Dissection of the title alone provides so many interesting clues and directions for the film to take in addition to what was analyzed previously. And while it does in fact address those interesting ideas (indirectly), it is as minimal as any film-going audience could possibly stand. We essentially watch an unexplained relationship unfold in almost real-time (just under 24 hours).

Akiko (Rin Takashi) is a college-aged girl up to something in the big city of Tokyo that is probably not good for her. She's having an argument with her boyfriend on the phone and she's saying no to a job that a middle-aged man is offering her. This middle-aged man is clearly her pimp and "no" means "yes, sir, I will do whatever you tell me to." So into the cab Akiko goes and we begin to worry about her safety. We spent an awful long time worrying about her safety with no idea what lies ahead for her. The cab ride was two hours long and we saw a lot of it. Akiko arrives at the apartment of an older gentleman looking for companionship. We don't really know what exactly Takashi Watanabe (Tadashi Okuno) wanted with Akiko, and then in the morning he drives her back to Tokyo. Another long car ride.

Visually the car rides were impeccably shot. The scenery was reflected in the windshield and we could still see the characters' faces behind. Unfortunately we don't really know what's happening with these characters during these long car rides. Sometimes a car ride is just a car ride.

Eventually we meet Noriaki (Ryo Kase), Akiko's offensive boyfriend. And he starts putting the relationships into perspective. A different perspective. He allows Akiko and Watanabe to act differently than they actually are, which allows us to start seeing them as they actually are. And then it ends. Well, not quite that quickly, but without giving anything away, it ends.

We're given so little on screen to examine that it can be frustrating even to the viewers that appreciate the subtle beauty in film. Two weeks after first seeing it, my mind has started to form a few opinions on what was being said but it's still a bit too little, too late.