Summary
A relationship bonded through a love of music and filtered through its seasons of warts and all.
You might have certain expectations when you see the same Daisuke Miyazaki on directorial credits. Given that those credits include action fantasy End of the Night, a slew of Not Found horror thrillers, and the experimental joy of being lost in Tourism, that expectation might just be for the unexpected. With PLASTIC, he explores a teen romance that develops through mutual love for a 70s prog rock band.
Having missed his shot at music fame, teenager Jun (Takuma Fujie) transfers to school in Nagoya. While busking to the music of his favourite band Exne Kedy, glam rockers who broke up years before, he encounters fellow student, Ibuki (An Ogawa) who happens to be singing the same tune.
Miyazaki’s coming of age story might skip through the years, checking in on this couple between August 2018 and August 2021, but in all other ways is a measured and leisurely look at a relationship. As their affection progresses beyond the superficial and the complexity of the future looms its head, we start to see them strain under the pressure.
Built on the foundation of a shared love of music, there’s a mixture of fantasy and realism in the telling. Real world totems like the pandemic or the Tokyo Olympics pepper the background fabric. At one point, there’s a scene of Jun and Ibuki conversing in a bar that might be a minor vision of a possible future. In another moment, Ibuki pictures a musical performance sequence in a forest while sitting in the back seat of a car.
The music that drives the film, ostensibly the back catalogue of Exne Kede, is actually a concept album by real-life Japanese musician Kensuke Ide With His Mothership. With titles like ‘Landline Boogie’ and ‘Swinging Lovers (Story of Joe)’, there’s a kind of concept storyline running through the music itself. Japanese speakers will undoubtedly get a little more nuance out of this important element. Nevertheless, they are all catchy as hell with a couple of bangers in the album too.
An Ogawa, who has previously worked with luminaries like Ryusuke Hamaguchi (in Heaven Is Still Far Away) and Ryutaro Nakagawa (for Mio on the Shore) does a wonderful job carrying much of the emotional weight of the film. Relative newcomer Takuma Fujie, a musician and performer, plays it all close to the chest, but impresses in this understated performance.
Miyazaki does not leave us with a traditional romantic ending. Very long takes of driving and walking around Tokyo are his equivalent of the ‘running to the future’ trope. Indeed, it’s a hitherto rarely heard narration that gives us the final coda on Jun and Ikubi, almost as if the song is still playing during an album’s fade out.
2023 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Daisuke Miyazaki | WRITERS: Daisuke Miyazaki | CAST: An Ogawa, Takuma Fujie, Kyoko Koizumi | DISTRIBUTOR: JAPAN CUTS | RUNNING TIME: 104 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 26 July-6 August 2023 (JAPAN CUTS)
