Summary
A lo-fi examination of a year in the life of a first crush that has got as much heart as its eponymous protagonist.
When you’re at high-school age, every emotional state tends to be heightened to its illogical extremes. Good news can be the best thing ever, while heartbreak is literally the end of the world. AMIKO (あみこ) is a deceptively simple exploration of a first crush told in a naturalistic style in this indie gem.
Cynical high-school student Amiko (Aira Sunohara) has had a single encounter with Aomi (Hiroro Oshita), but he seems to have two things going for him: a similar world-view and a shared love of Radiohead. Despite months going by before they talk again, Amiko is shocked to learn Aomi has left and is now living with a girl she sees as the epitome of all she hates. So begins a mini-journey to find out what’s occurring.
Structured around a series of vignettes linked to specific months and moods, Amiko’s narrative is not necessarily an ordered one. Even for a short running time of just over an hour, 20-year-old debut director Yoko Yamanaka spends time with Amiko laughing on the phone with a friend, exploring her active inner life, and long takes of the titular lead eating lemons in the bathtub. It’s definitely not a straight linear journey, but then again, how many teenager lives are that structured?
At it’s best, Yamanaka finds fascination in these random moments of exploration, talking to strangers or breaking out into dance with a trio of people on a railway platform. Even in this, Amiko finds ennui in the boredom of disengagement. “It’s impossible for Japanese people to start dancing simultaneously,” she pragmatically explains, almost to camera.
There’s a DIY punk attitude to everything about AMIKO, right down to it’s literal face-punch of a finale. After all, Yamanaka’s budget was a mere $2500 dollars, and comes on a wave of micro-budgeted Japanese cinema. Filled with humour, charm, and a wonderful performance from newcomer Sunohara, it’s the kind of festival find that you’ll recall “discovering” years from now. So whether you see this as a long short, or a short feature, Yamanaka marks herself as an exciting new voice, and possibly a future Daigo Matsui in the making.
2017 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Yoko Yamanaka | WRITERS: Yoko Yamanaka | CAST: Aira Sunohara, Hiroro Oshita, Maiko Mineo, Ayu Hasegawa | DISTRIBUTOR: Nikkatsu, Japan Cuts (US) | RUNNING TIME: 66 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 29 July 2018 (Japan Cuts)
