Village of Dreams (1996, Yoichi Higashi)
The story of troublesome nine-year-old twins, Seizo and Yukihiko, growing up in a country village in Japan.The twins are first introduced as middle-aged men, collaborating on an illustrated story book of their childhood. Scenes from this time nicely bookend the film, but the rest is set 50 years in the past as a recollection of their childhood.
Growing up, they live with their mother and older sister, and attend school in the mornings. The story is, primarily, about ordinary life and the bond between the two brothers. The performances of the two boys are really worth watching for alone. I'm not sure how old they are, IMDB says 9, but that can't be right. I'd say 5 is closer. Anyways, they are completely natural on screen, and there are a few scenes that are so genuine I can't imagine how they could have been staged. They are a lot of fun to watch, and the supporting cast (including a few of the other children) are really good as well.
One aspect of the movie that didn't work for me is a supernatural element, primarily revolving around three spirits in the form of old, gossiping women. It seemed completely unnecessary, and I think I would have liked it more if it had stuck to being a strictly realistic portrayal. Or since the story is being told by the twins, they could have played the supernatural up more as a way to express the imagination of the kids at the time. There was a point where I thought that was the direction it was going, and I thought it might work really well, but as it is it's just kinda pointless.
But that's really a very small element of the film, and the rest was really enjoyable.
Comrades, Almost a Love Story (1996, Peter Chan)
Jun arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China, hoping to be able to earn enough money to marry his girlfriend back home. He meets the streetwise Qiao and they become friends. As friendship turns into love, problems develop, and although they seem meant for each other they somehow keep missing out.Almost? There's no almost about it, this is a love story.
It's appropriate that these two movies are facing each other, because both of their central themes deal with relationships (granted in two very different ways). The relationship between Jun and Qiao is the one that carries the film here, and it does it magnificently. They have amazing chemistry, and the story is just beautifully told. All of the characters feel genuine, and it treats them all very fairly, which a movie like this could have easily screwed up.
I don't want to go into detail on the story, which I would have to do to discuss it more, but I really loved this movie. When it wasn't getting a little dusty it had me grinning. Fantastic.
VerdictI'm really glad I saw both movies, and I would recommend them both, but there's a clear winner here. Comrades, Almost a Love Story moves on.