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Father and Daughter (2000)
Beautiful film
Father and Daughter is a very emotional short film which is about a separation of father and his daughter and the daughter's desire to see her father again through her entire life.
Firstly, the animations and the sounds of the film were beautiful. The color of the film and the sound reflected the sadness of the daughter whose father suddenly left her without telling her a reason.
In the film, bicycles appear again and again. I felt that the bicycles and the sound of the wheels symbolized the daughter's sad feeling. I also thought that the bicycle symbolized the bond between father and daughter.
In addition, it was a fascinating film which captures viewer's imagination. The film made think about the reason why the father had to leave. The film also made me think about how I would feel and what I would do if someone who is important to me leaves me suddenly and I will not be able to see him/her anymore. Overall, this is an amazing film because the movie reflects daughter's sadness through the color, music and bicycles, and the movie captures viewer's imagination.
A Moment (2012)
Loneliness as a social issue
A moment is a short film about some people who have experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake.
The music of the film is very beautiful, and tone and color of the film are very dark which clearly and vividly showed how people in the film feels. Every single person in the film looks very sad, lonely and isolated probably because of the loss of someone important to him/her or because of their poor living conditions resulted from the earthquake.
I also thought that the film is trying to show loneliness as a social issue in modern society. Nowadays, more people believe in individualism than they used to, and they try to solve their own problems by themselves. Also, there is less interpersonal relationship between people. People started avoiding involving with other people deeply because it is sometimes troublesome. I sometimes feel very isolated and lonely without a reason, and sometimes feel that I want to give up on building a relationship with people. However, the message I received from this film was that "you are not alone, there is someone who feels the same way with you do, so it's okay, don't be afraid of involving with people around you". I think this is a film which gives a viewer an energy to overcome sadness or loneliness.
Gasman (1997)
Successful visual storytelling
"Gasman" is a short film about a small girl, Lynne, who goes to a Christmas party with her father and her brother, and meets a girl and a boy who are in the same age range. Her father has two families and Lynne and her brother have blood relationships with the girl and the boy.
I liked this film. Firstly, it is simply because kids are very cute and Lynne's action and her feelings were very honest and realistic. I liked the film also because the most of the scene are from children's eyes and standpoints. In addition, I could understand what was going on without understanding what they are talking. I think this is because the visual storytelling of the film is clear and successful.
I could see that Lynne feels strong jealousy. I think jealousy is the strongest feeling of human beings. I think Lynne is hurt a lot when she saw the girl sits on their father's knees. This film is very realistic because, in daily life, even after people become adults, they face a lot of scenes they feel anger and jealousy in relationships with others, for example, relationships with friends, family members, girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband, and so on. I think Lynne learns a lot of things through one night. I am very curious about, after the Christmas, what will happen between four children and how the relationship will change.
The Mass of Men (2012)
Meaning of the security camera scene
"The Mass of Men" is a short film about a jobless man who visits a job center for his appointment.
I was very surprised when I realized the first security camera scene plays a significant role in the film. At first, I did not recognize what was going on during the security camera scene, but later, I understood what it means. The camera caught the jobless man's selfish action. The film successfully conveyed what that means to audiences without conversation or dialogue, but only through visual storytelling.
The latter half of the film was very scary. I felt very painful when I watched another man comes into the scene and start to attack the office-working lady with his weapon. I suddenly started feeling sorry for her at that moment. I found it very interesting that I felt sorry for both characters, the jobless man and the office-working lady at the different points of the film.
I also think that the film is very real. This film shows the serious issue of unemployment. The suffering of the jobless man is real. He was not only jobless but also very hopeless, and it was very sad for me to realize this is really happening in our living world, and it is as bad as this film is.
Born with It (2015)
Very realistic
"Born with it" is a short film about a half-Japanese elementary school boy who transfers to a small school in rural area in Japan and becomes a target of bullying because his classmates think he has AIDS.
First of all, I like the film because it is very realistic. I felt that the film successfully and correctly shows how Japanese elementary school children behave. How they behave, how they respond when they encounter international people, and how much they are uneducated about diseases like AIDS is very real. Since Japan was a homogeneous society for a long time, many Japanese people, especially those who live in rural area, still have strong prejudices towards foreign people. Often Japanese children treat those foreign people and Japanese minorities in an incorrect way. Maybe Japanese elementary school children should watch this film because it gives them a good opportunity to think about the problems such as racial prejudice.
However, the ending of the film was not satisfying for me. The film ends when the boy returns to school with his mother and he is about to open the door of the school. I wanted to see what happened next because I wanted to know how he changes and how he copes with bullying toward him.
J'attendrai le suivant... (2002)
Too sad
"I'll wait for the next one" is a short film about a lonely woman in her thirties or forties in France who encounters a man in subway who says he wants to find a true love.
First of all, I'm very curious about if this is really happening in France. I was very surprised because this kind of events never happens in trains in Japan. Since I never witnessed this kind of situation in my life, the setting of this film was very unfamiliar to me, however, I enjoyed watching it.
It is interesting that the woman does not speak one word throughout the film. Without her saying anything, viewers can tell who she is, what her social situation is, and how she is feeling from her clothes and facial expressions. The actress's acting is so real and empathetic that I felt sad and sorry for her after watching it. Viewers can easily imagine that the woman would probably get hurt and feel herself insulted, so maybe the film is successfully made. I also felt a little unpleasant toward what the man did because if I was in the same situation with the woman, I would have believed what the man says was real. Both the man and the woman's actings were real, thus, it was a great film. I just could not stop wishing for her to find a nice man in her future.
Three Days in Kamakura (2012)
Family is difficult, but it's beautiful at the same time
Three Days in Kamakura is a film about a married non-Japanese man who works at a small nursery school in Kamakura, Japan. He is married Japanese woman and they have no children.
It is interesting how radio broadcasting is used in this film. At first, train accident has no relationship with the main story, however, as the story advances, train accident starts to play an important role in the main story. It was very interesting to see how those main story and sub stories connect to each other.
In addition, rain and beaches in Kamakura are very beautiful. Rain showed how sad characters are feeling. I was thinking why it has to be in Kamakura, but I could not find out why. I am very curious about why the place has to be Kamakura, and what significant role the place play.
The story was heartwarming, and watching this film made me want to see my family. Also, this film showed me that there is a wide variety of family structures. In the film, a non-Japanese man are married a Japanese woman, and they have no children. There are various types of family in the current society, for example, nuclear families, single parent families, couples without children and so on. This film taught me that there is no "correct" or "standard" form of family, and as long as people think they are family and they are happy, then they are a family. I am sure this film will make you miss your family.
The Crush (2010)
A little bit unrealistic
"The Crush" is a short film about an elementary school boy who falls in love with his beautiful teacher and wishes to marry her. The boy proposes to her, but he finds out she has a fiance and he decides to fight with him.
At first, I thought this film is about a cute boy and the genre of the film is just a comedy which kids can also enjoy watching. As the story advances, I was very confused because suddenly it was a horror or suspense movie, and at the end it was a comedy film again. Throughout the film, I could not expect what would happen next.
However, there are some points that I did not like about the film. I personally did not like the idea of a child possessing a gun and bringing it to school. If I was a teacher or a parent, I think I do not want kids to watch this film because the film can influence them negatively. I also thought that the characters and the situation is not realistic because I realized that I did not sympathize with any of the characters.
The boy is cute, I liked him and his acting, and how the story ends is funny, however, I did not really enjoy watching it.
The Lunch Date (1989)
Funny and I liked it
"The Lunch Date" was a short film about an old white lady who misses train and takes lunch while waiting for the next train. She encounters a black man and have lunch together with him.
First of all, I really liked the scene that the woman realizes the salad the black man was eating was not hers. Viewers could realize that before the woman did, so it was fun to watch the scene that the woman has not yet found out the truth and the moment she finds it out. I also liked the main character's acting. She was a perfectly typical old white lady, and I really enjoyed watching her behavior.
I also found out that the film showed a typical racial discrimination and prejudices. People judge someone by their appearance, and sometimes people who belong to ethnically majority group can be very arrogant and selfish. I think this film can gives viewers good opportunities to think about those issues and to look back on their own behavior.
I was wondering why this film is a black-and-white film. I think that it might be because the person who created the film wanted to emphasize difference of characters' races, black and white.
Spielzeugland (2007)
Emotional and touching
"Toyland" is a short film which is about a German boy who follows his Jewish friend who is actually going to a concentration camp. The boy thinks the friend is going to "Toyland" because his mother lies so and he believes the lie.
I personally liked this film because it was very emotional and touching. The film shows what really happened in Germany during Second World War without any violent scenes. The film successfully conveys the sadness and the darkness of what actually happened.
The film was also about friendship between the German boy and the Jewish boy. I felt really sad because, for them, the difference of their races do not matter, and friend is friend. I realized what happened at that time was really cruel.
What I also liked about the film is that it was not chronological order. The film is from two sides: what happens to the boy and what happens to his mother. I enjoyed not only the story itself but also the switches of the viewpoints.