Features

Ribazu ejji

River's Edge
Isao Yukisada
Japan 2018
118 min
V'18

On the surface, the differences are visible: the outfits, the hairstyles, the absence of computers or mobile phones. None of the teenagers of this adaptation of a manga from the mid 90s can imagine that those secrets hidden in personal diaries would become openly shared in today’s social media, especially in countries like Japan. But the drama, the inner turmoil, the emptiness they feel has not changed much in 25 years. Wakakusa and Kannonzaki are a couple but she does not feel anything for him. He cheats on her with Rumi, who uses her body to escape the boredom of school and family life. Yamada also has a girlfriend, Tajima, younger and more naive, but he’s secretly gay and doesn’t really care for her as much as she does for him. Kozue works as a model but needs to throw up everything she eats to meet the standards of fashion designers. All these friends and enemies from high-school seem to live their own parallel existences. Sex is a tool. A dead body is a prop to play with. Violence is everywhere. But nothing seems to matter much. Until it does. But maybe then it’s too late to react. “What makes you glad to be alive?”, someone asks Tajima. She looks at the camera and smiles. Barely. (Diego Lerer)

Credits
  • Nikaido Fumi - Wakakusa Haruna
  • Yoshizawa Ryo - Yamada Ichiro
  • Morikawa Aoi - Tajima Kanna
  • Uesugi Shuhei - Kannonzaki
  • Sumire - Yoshikawa Kozue
  • Setoyama Misaki
  • based on a Manga by Okazaki Kyoko
  • Maki Kenji
  • Ito Hironori
  • Imai Tsuyoshi
  • Sebu Hiroko
  • Soma Naoki
  • Takayama Eri
Thefool

Kino Films

DCP
col
Related Movies