Moving: a 1993 Japanese masterpiece unearthed (review)

ByLeila October 23, 2023

Discovery of an essential and unpublished film of Japanese cinema from 1993 and its author, Shinji Sômai, adored by Kore-eda and Hamaguchi.

In head-on competition with the Sonatina by Takeshi Kitano also presented in the Section In some perspective of the Cannes Film Festival in May 1993, this Moving by Shinji Sômai was discreet enough not to find a distributor in France. Thirty years later, here he finally appears. Proof of the superior quality of the work, time has had no influence on it. Better, this news – even delayed – reinforces its status as an essential and totally synchronous work. Taking advantage of this late French recognition, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Ryusuke Hamaguchi thus took out their finest pen to express everything they owed to Sômai, this unjustly confidential elder (he was born in 1948), who died lung cancer in 2001. Moving, her tenth feature film, is the story of a divorce seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old child suddenly tossed between two homes. The action takes place in Kyoto and little Ren (the formidable Tomoko Tabat seen later in… Kore-eda!), perfectly aware of the intimate drama playing out between her discordant parents, nevertheless claims her place in the heart of the chaos. The staging, which operates mainly through sequence shots, manages to translate this tension, both psychological and physical. The camera movements imprison beings without gagging them. In the last part, in a formidable mise en abyss of the gaze, the film touches downright on the sublime. It’s high time to discover Shinji Sômai.

By Shinji Sömai. With Tomoko Tabat, Kiichi Nakai, Junko Sakurada… Duration 2h04. Released October 25, 2023

Leila

Leila is the editor-in-chief at DTmovies, leading the charge with her team to deliver engaging cinema and series content. With a keen eye for emerging trends and a passion for the stories behind the screen, she is the creative backbone that drives the site’s editorial excellence. Her expertise and dedication have established DTmovies as a go-to source for film and series enthusiasts.