Reply to comment

Minmin and I went to watch Yuki & Nina near the Ebisu station in Tokyo.  This bilingual French and Japanese movie among the titles of last year’s Cannes selection is a collaboration of the Japanese author Nobushiro Suwa and the French actor Hippolyte Giradot.

The story revolves around Yuki (Noë Stampy), a young Japanese French girl whose parents are about to divorce, forcing her to move from France to Japan with her mother.  This prompts her to join her best friend, Nina (Arielle Moutel), who just had an argument with her mother, to run away from home together.  They hope their disappearance will give Nina a break from her mother and help Yuki’s parents get back together.  

That’s when it gets weird.  After the drama in the first half of the film and a short transition, the plot suddenly twists into surreal where logic is replaced by the imaginary.  

Perhaps this is why I do not understand what the movie tries to be.  Then again, maybe this simply reflects how differently the directors were thinking from each other.  (One of the girls being French while the other being half-Japanese may also be another representation of the collaboration on this work.)  The first hour or so describes Yuki’s situation like a typical TV kids drama series while the other one subtly reminded me of the wonderful magical realism title Yume (a.k.a. Akira Kurosawa’s Dream).

I understand the strange bits may have helped Yuki see her own future and to accept her faith willingly.  Yet, I wish the story line would have been of just one kind or the other rather than trying to force the two together.

Nevertheless, despite the ending that may perplex many, Noë’s performance and the beautifully framed scenes can still be appreciated.

3.5/5

Photo from The Daily at IFC.