As a young boy, Ryunosuke dances and laughs across the screen wielding flaming sparklers, inevitably reminding viewers of those carefree days of childhood. With the use of natural performances by a wonderful cast of children, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film “I Wish” is a celebration of the new, youthful generation.
Kore-eda is known for creating stories that depict the innocence and hope of children, just as he did in “Nobody Knows.” Despite the film’s success in its portrayal of childhood, it also expresses a very harsh and realistic angle of growing up, which may leave viewers slightly disappointed with the ending.
Kore-eda’s all-star cast of adults creates a contrast with the crop of novel child actors he selected.
In making “I Wish,” Kore-eda said he aimed to show the incomplete nature of children in comparison to the adults who surround them. The troubles of the children seem like petty trifles compared to those of the adults.
The story takes place in Kagoshima and Hakata, Japan around the time of the installation of the famous bullet train. Two brothers, Koichi and Ryunosuke (played by real-life comedian brothers Koki and Ohshirô Maeda) are separated by their parents’ divorce.
Sensible older brother Koichi lives in Kagoshima with his mother, while his carefree younger brother lives with their father in Hakata. Koichi wants nothing more than for the whole family to be reunited. When he hears a rumor that seeing the two bullet trains pass creates a miracle, he, his brother and all of their friends set out to see it to make their wishes come true.
The film beautifully illustrates life as it is. Close-ups of daily objects and scenes featuring Koichi doing his chores easily depict everyday life. Yet, this does not necessarily make for the best movie. Kore-eda seemed to linger excessively on filming everyday activities, such as cleaning the house. Seeing as scenes like this are neither important to the plot, aesthetically pleasing nor particularly interesting, they bog down the pace of the film instead.
The cinematography had a quality of quiet beauty to it. For example, landscape shots featuring the live volcano next to Kagoshima are particularly breathtaking. But some of the scenes seemed as though the cuts were put together very sloppily. In the middle of a dialogue, the image would suddenly jump. This did little to enhance any of what was going on in the scene.
The greatest difficulty with “I Wish,” however, was understanding the film’s intent. Throughout the movie, the children diligently plan to see the intersection of the bullet trains to witness the rumored miracle.
Yet, Kore-eda doesn’t create a film in which dreams come true. He chooses to focus on appreciating everyday life rather than relying on wishes. This can seem harsh or unresolved in the setting of a movie.
However, those who consider themselves realists may find solace in such a story. According to Kore-eda, coming of age is not a simple process, and to an extent, requires that individuals let go of wishing to make room for growth.
“(The children) learn that just because you make a wish, doesn’t mean the world is going to change the way you want it to. … Emotions close to despair help people to grow. I personally think that that is the miracle of life,” Kore-eda said in a press release for the film.
Perhaps this is the reason the film was originally entitled “Kiseki,” which translates to “miracle” in Japanese. Kore-eda’s film presents a critical view of childhood, growing-up and life’s miracles.
The message, though hard to swallow, is a meaningful one. Given the film’s nature, it would be a good watch for a realist, but it offers very little as a crowd pleaser.
Email Rocha at krocha@media.ucla.edu.