| an_apple | 2007-11-20 20:09 |
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Hmm, how do you get this thing to accept Japanese characters? Anyway… I have recently watched 1 Litre of Tears movie. Hmm, it takes a bit getting used to, especially after watching the drama series. One has to accept that they are different works, coming from different creators. It came before the drama, however, back in 2004. It seems like a movie made on a small budget or at least that is why it looks like, whether intentionally or not. They seem to have shot it depending solely on natural light and, hence, you get this real life feeling… it almost has this ‘pseudo-documentary’ feel to it. I suspect they may have done it on purpose and indeed it gives the movie a more realistic feel.  *Spoiler Warning: Read at Your Own Risk* The story is highly condensed, and there is no time for subplots. It is to be expected as they have much to cover in the 95 minutes they have. They waste no time getting to the main point as we see Aya coming crying to her mother with blood all over her chin after having fallen on her face in the very first scene. Checkups follow shortly and the mother tells her daughter about the disease without much delay. I don’t know if the movie follows the diary more closely but even if it seems to, there are differences. There is no Dr. Mizuno, for instance. Instead we have the female doctor Yamamoto. The story focuses on Aya and her mom (more on the former). The father plays a very minimal role and so do the remaining members of the family. She enters the hospital during the summer before going back to school. Her mother helps her to school in the morning and her friends as well during school. Her real difficuty is going back home as her mother is busy at work and cannot come to pick her up immediately. She has difficulty walking even to the bus station and it is not long before she falls. Her newly-befriended ’senpai’ suuports her to the nearest shop where the ‘obaasan’ there take care of her. Ultimately, she offers her a part-time job at the shop until her mother can come and pick her up. Of course, Aya is highly delighted that she ’still can do work’ even though she has got this incurable disease. Eventually, her state deteriorates (although it is worth saying that the degrading is not as fast as that in the drama series). This results in having the principle paying a visit to her parents at home to callously ask them to stop having their daughter come to school. The goodbye ceremony is simple. There is no The 9th of March being sung or anything; just a simple goodbye from her classmates and a bouquet of flowers. Afterwards, She goes into a specialized school for the disabled where she makes some new friends and has a tough Arts instructor. In the end, they all make a stage performance where they sing some song while wearing funky costumes. After that she leaves for the hospital, her house, and the hospital again. And you all know the rest of the story. The movie only covers up to age 20 and then has a text displayed at the end detailing what happens next. Of course, since there are no English subtitles (but the Japanese ones were pretty useful), I could only understand what my current level permits me to; which is not a whole lot. Some may find the movie not as intense as its TV counterpart, but I liked it as it helps provide a different side of the story. There aren’t anywhere as much tear-jerking scenes as the drama series. However, the approach taken made it closer to real life than a TV show or a movie. I appreciate this different view. So when it comes down to? Who is the better actress portraying Aya? On the one hand, some claim that OESHI Asae does a better job than SAWAJIRI Erika. On the other hand, many who have only watched the drama series would of course prefer the latter. For me, all I can say is that their performances are different. They represent a different interpretations for the character of KITOU Aya. I see them as complementing each other instead of being directly in competition. Here is the movie trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkjCl-x4H8g The Special Duration: 2 Hours 19 Minutes 28 Seconds I was quite happy to see that the special was a lengthy one but my happiness was soon gone. I won’t say anything spoiling (don’t know if there is anything to spoil anyway). But of course, this will be a spoiler in case who haven’t seen the original drama in its entirity. We are given new scenes for the first 30 minutes with some small flashbacks every once in a while. The special opens with Ako giving a graduation speech at her nurse college…. Yada Yada Yada and she then starts receiving her nurse training at (surprise, surprise) The University of Jounan Hospital. There, she was nearly ran over by a girl in a wheelchair. The girl, NAGASHIMA Mizuki, is your typical lonely teenager girl who doesn’t want to go on living (no good friends and all) and thus flush her pills down the drain and doesn’t go to the rehab sessions because ‘her head hurts’ and whatnot.A fellow patient gives her Aya’s diary and tell her a bit about Aya. She reads a bit. Puzzled, she asks her assigned physician Dr. -Ahem- ASO Haruto about the book and his relation with IKUECHI Aya. Ignores her at first, but he is all heart broken over it. After Mizuki shows her defiance to her mother and to everyone, he gives in and start telling her the story and how ’sugoi’ Aya was.And therefore, the lengthy flashbacks starts.The flashbacks are, of course, edited material from the original drama. They are edited well, though, and show some of my favorite scenes. The first feedback is like 36 minutes long. It is followed by a couple of short flash forwards and flashbacks and then another lengthy flashback followed by a 10-minute closing. I guess this was meant to be a ‘memorial’ of the series deliverd in a neat packaging. For the original Japanese audience, who have seen the original series back in 2005, it might be a good reminder but for someone like me who has just seen the series recently, it doesn’t help much.It is not that it is a bad special or anything, but I would rather watch the series for the third time rather than sit through a summary of it. I guess everyone would watch this at least once out of curiosity but don’t expect any groundbreaking stuff here. I have to say, however, that the role of a doctor doesn’t really fit Haruto. It feels so wrong >_<Don’t go away yet, there is more. Here is a special program of sorts on the real Aya (no subs, though)… Hmm, I forgot the name of this actress. Right… KUROKAWA Tomoka (I think). Didn’t she play MOURI Ran in Meitantei Conan’s first dorama special?Part 1http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVFbCyDJtE0 Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2IH5NgRmKc And last but not least, here is a music video featuring scenes from the TV show. I wonder who is that woman singing Only Human here? Well, that’s it for now.?? Credit: Instants of Insanity Sawajiri Erika China http://sawajiri-erika.cn/2007/11/one-liter-of-tears-dorama-movie-special.html |
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