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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>This response also needs a spoiler alert.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Thanks for that, Mark. When I saw the film at the
London FF back last October, the back story that Mark has given us only slowly
emerged. Whilst I can agree with Mark about his reflections on the dad,
it's hardly the only parenting issue that is questionable, in particular the
splitting of siblings, an arrangement that seems to answer to each extended
family's need for an heir, rather than any interest of the children. That
splitting seemed to be presented as a necessary consequence of the parents'
splitting as far as I could make out.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Moving just a sufficient distance away as to make visiting
difficult is an all-too-common gut move by a parent with residence in all
cultures that I know. Because courts work in retrospect, 'child's best
interests' so often works to reinforce - and thus further encourage - those
parental moves. But I don't think there is a court in the UK - or Europe -
that would agree on the splitting of siblings as chattels.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Is the child-splitting just a necessary requirement for
the story - or does such a practice have some currency in Japan ? Koreeda,
after all, is hardly a stranger to such issues in his films. Perhaps he
addressed that at a Q&A ?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Roger</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=mroberts37@mail-central.com
href="mailto:mroberts37@mail-central.com">Mark Roberts</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A
title=KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, May 13, 2012 9:09 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Times reviews I Wish</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>Spoiler alert: if you haven't seen "I Wish" you may wish to stop reading
right here.</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>At a press screening last year in Tokyo, Kore-eda was asked: "are
you more optimistic, now that you're a father?" His reply expanded on one of
the main issues in the film, and he expressed hope that it could be an
opportunity for viewers to reflect on the richness of the world. As he
described the film story, the dissolution of the family was to be seen as the
occasion for the children to have an adventure, and in that way discover
a greater sense of possibility.</DIV>
<DIV><BR>For me, this was a bit puzzling, for the film shows pretty clearly
that the family falls apart because the father is completely self-involved in
his music and doesn't care to hold down a job or think much about the concerns
of his wife. She resents this, they cannot agree, and eventually she takes one
of the boys and moves home to live with her parents in Kagoshima. When the
father later tells the boy (during a phone call, at night), that he should
think about "the world ... about music ... instead of just yourself", it is
meant to be altruistic and humble, but in the context of the story it sounds
an awful lot like rationalization for his own slackerdom. The boy tries to
understand what "the world" means, and in the final scene, tells his brother
that he didn't wish for anything when the trains passed, because "I chose the
world and not our family".</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>So, the film seems to setting out a fairly straightforward irony about
the irresponsible dad with his higher calling in music/art. The interest
really lies in watching how the children try to understand this situation,
with perhaps a second moment of irony when one of the boys internalizes the
father's attitude without really understanding it. Yet, at the same time,
Kore-eda also seems to be affirming that the father should choose "the world",
the kids will sort it out, and that this is the occasion for a lovely voyage
of childhood discovery on JR-Kyushu.<BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>M</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><BR>
<DIV>
<DIV>On May 13, 2012, at 10:10 AM, Sybil Thornton wrote:</DIV><BR
class=Apple-interchange-newline>
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<DIV>Hi,</DIV>
<DIV>It was screened in Scottsdale, AZ one night as one of a
series of as-yet-unreleased films, Talk Cinema.</DIV>
<DIV>Cheers,</DIV>
<DIV>SAT<BR><BR>--- On <B>Fri, 5/11/12, Michael Kerpan <I><<A
href="mailto:mekerpan@verizon.net">mekerpan@verizon.net</A>></I></B>
wrote:<BR></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: rgb(16,16,255) 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"><BR>From:
Michael Kerpan <<A
href="mailto:mekerpan@verizon.net">mekerpan@verizon.net</A>><BR>Subject:
Re: Times reviews I Wish<BR>To: "<A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</A>"
<<A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</A>><BR>Date:
Friday, May 11, 2012, 5:41 AM<BR><BR>
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<DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff; FONT-FAMILY: garamond, new york, times, serif; COLOR: #000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<DIV><SPAN>Nice to see this lovely film getting any sort of
release in the US. (I wonder whether this will get screened
outise NYC and LA?)<BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: garamond, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<DIV
style="FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
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<B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">From:</SPAN></B> "Nornes,
Markus" <<A
href="mailto:amnornes@umich.edu">amnornes@umich.edu</A>><BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">To:</SPAN></B> KineJapan <<A
href="mailto:KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu">KineJapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</A>>
<BR><B><SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Sent:</SPAN></B>
Friday, May 11, 2012 8:27 AM<BR><B><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Subject:</SPAN></B> Times reviews I
Wish<BR></FONT></DIV><BR>"The nominal story involves Koichi’s
belief ― he heard it, so it must be right ― that wishes come
true for those who stand in a certain spot in front of two
passing trains. Marshaling some friends and coordinating with
Ryunosuke, he heads off to wish for his family to be reunited,
a grand adventure that is more persuasive in its emotional
reverberations than in its practical details. That scarcely
matters and soon becomes beside the point of Mr. Kore-eda’s
gift for carefully excavating deep emotions that his
characters cannot express or may not be conscious of. “I Wish”
tends toward the vaporous and not just because of its volcano;
but whenever its children are on screen, lighted up with joy
or dimmed by hard adult truths, the film burns
bright."<BR><BR><A
href="http://nyti.ms/JmtFe7">http://nyti.ms/JmtFe7</A><BR><BR><BR>H<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>