Summary
This unique blend of family drama and video game engines makes for the most heartwarming pseudo-commercial that’s ever featured a long-running game series.
There is an enthusiasm around the Final Fantasy video game series that is difficult to fathom outside the world of gamers. Given that it has been running since 1987, BRAVE FATHER ONLINE: OUR STORY OF FINAL FANTASY XIV (劇場版 ファイナルファンタジーXIV 光のお父さん) attempts to capture the intergenerational meaning of the game to families with a little bit of clever marketing in the mix too.
Based on a true story, BRAVE FATHER ONLINE adapts the 2017 mini-series Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light. Akio (Kentaro Sakaguchi) has struggled with his emotionally distant father Akira (Kotaro Yoshida) since he was a boy. In fact, he finds dealing with other humans through their Final Fantasy avatars much easier. When Akira unexpectedly retires, Akio secretly bonds with him online via the game.
BRAVE FATHER ONLINE is a film quite literally made in two parts, indicated by dual-credited directors Teruo Noguchi and Kiyoshi Yamamoto. While the former deals with the live action segments of the film, the latter creates a kind of movie-within-a-movie using the game engine. Rather than simply being one of those machinima type productions, screenwriter Kota Fukihara often uses the motif to have group therapy sessions that might feel stilted in a real life setting.
The blend of the two worlds is far more effective than one might assume, and the MMO aspect of the game universe allows for several plot threads to integrate over time and distance. Much of this is due to the formidable presence of the Kotaro Yoshida (The Third Murder), who swings between taciturn and disarmingly tender, such as a scene where he visits a stand-up session to reluctantly support his daughter’s fiancé.
If it all feels like a bit of a blatant grab for your hearts and wallets, it’s probably because it is. That doesn’t mean that it’s any less endearing, with several crises and sweet moments carefully timed to remind us of the importance of family and community. If that community happens to come together via Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, then it seems that your life will be all the richer for it.
While it may feel like an extended advertorial for the titular game at times, this is more about finding connections. A charming film that leans heavily into sentiment, and the machinima technique of using the game engine to create dramatic scenes, it all comes together in a sweet (albeit predictable) ending. At least until the next Final Fantasy XVI is released and tears the family apart.
2019 | Japan | DIR: Teruo Noguchi and Kiyoshi Yamamoto | WRITERS: Kota Fukihara | CAST: Kentaro Sakaguchi, Kotaro Yoshida | DISTRIBUTOR: Gaga Corporation (JPN), Japanese Film Festival 2019 (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 114 minutes | RELEASE DATE: October – December 2019 (JFF)
