Leave it up to Jason Gray to discover gems of Japanese cinema. After alerting the English-speaking world about the superb This World of Ours, Jason has yet another winner on his hands — Yasutomo Chikuma (竹馬靖具監督)’s Now I (Ima, Boku wa / 今、僕は), screened in the Nippon Digital section of this year’s Nippon Connection.
Satoru is a so-called NEET (“not engaged in employment, education or training”), living the life of a recluse in his mother’s apartment. One day Tôsawa appears and attempts to draw him out of his inner prison. Soon the situation escalates…
The subject matter alone is enough to pique my interest, but with the added praise for the camerawork and especially acting, this looks like my kind of film. I’ve always been attracted to films about aimless and despairing youths — All About Lily Chou-Chou, Harmful Insect — maybe because I see fragments of myself projected onto the screen. Whatever the reason, and whatever the incentive for the rise of new filmmakers tackling contemporary issues, I welcome it. Hopefully this one will find its way through the festival circuit to VIFF.
