Thursday, 4 July 2013

Like Someone In Love (2012, Dir. Abbas Kiarostami, France/Japan) (Cert: 12a/Unrated) ****



 
 
 
Starring: Rin Takanishi, Tadashi Okuno, Ryo Kase

 

Akiko (Takanashi) is a call-girl in Tokyo who receives a job from her employer (Denden) to visit a client who lives an hour’s taxi ride away. When Akiko finally arrives, she discovers the client is an old man (Okuno) who seems less interested in sleeping with Akiko and is more interested in just having some company.

 

A French co-production by an Iranian director and set and shot in Japan, Like Someone In Love is a conceptually simple film stretched over two hours. Rather than throwing sheer exposition at the audience, Kiarostami’s screenplay lets the exposition gently flow leaving the audience to fill in the blanks. The relationship between Rin Takanishi and Tadashi Okuno is a sweet and engaging one despite the many decades in age difference and the film does manage to deftly handle drama with the occasional comedic element. The pacing of the film is probably too sedentary for a lot of people and there is perhaps more to be explored, but it’s a good demonstration of how a film can do a great deal without actually showing very much.

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