I Wish (2012)

Load of rubbish!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Good concept, poorly executed.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

A group of children walking in an unfamiliar landscape stop to gaze in rapture at a garden full of colourful flowers. For a moment they seem to have forgotten the reason they have taken their journey; one lovely moment among many in Hirokazu Kore-eda's "I Wish," a meditation on how children would like their world to be that little bit better. The film has taken quite a while to reach this point. In a rather meandering exposition the elder of two brothers separated geographically by a family split comes to realise that his greatest wish is for them to be reunited again. He even wonders whether the smouldering volcano that dominates the town might one day burst, causing the mass exodus that could end in physical relocation and reconciliation. He paints a picture of the eruption, places it on a high point of his wall and gazes up at it from his bed. During the development that follows be excitedly learns that the passing of the two bullet trains on a newly constructed line joining his town and his brother's generates at their point of passing a force so powerful that anyone standing beside the track will have their wish come true - the very stuff of fairy tale here translated into a realistic contemporary setting. When both brothers gather together a few friends to make their collective wishes come true what has until then been a rather slow footed film cluttered with non-essentials suddenly springs to life. The two groups travelling from their two towns towards each other on their local line meet up at a country station. From this point there is magic in the storytelling. What I admire most about Kore-eda is his honesty. In real life not every wish can come true but every so often there can come about a coincidence that can in itself be something of a miracle. Here it takes the form of the children's chance encounter with very human "good fairies." the elderly couple who see in one of the girls a resemblance to a daughter whose company they no longer enjoy. This is just enough to get the children to the one place where they can be close enough to the bullet trains to scream their wishes. The rest of the films is the quietest of codas as the children return home with perhaps a wiser view of the world than when they set out.

Koichi (the fat one) and Ryunosuke (the 'on acid' one) are two brothers separated along with their parents: Koichi now living with his mother and grandparents in Kagoshima and Ryunosuke in Fukuoka with his father. Once a happy family living in Osaka, they are now divided, with Koichi in a sleepy town in southern Kyushu overlooked by a rumbling volcano; and Ryunosuke with his musician father in modern and vibrant Fukuoka to the island's north. Wanting his family back together again, like Janet Jackson, Koichi comes up with an idea to make it happen.Each with a group of friends, the brothers makes the trip to Kumamoto: the point they calculate where the new Sakura Shinkansen will meet in opposing directions. When this happens, miracles will follow.Of course, this idea is childish – that's why this is a film about children. Kore-eda Hirokazu's latest feature seems to combine two of his previous releases, 'Nobody Knows' and the Ozu-like 'Still Walking', looking at the break-up of family through the eyes of a child. Using real-life brothers (well, their family name is the same, anyway) for the leads, Hirokazu again captures the imagination with a film that furthers his place among the greats of Japanese cinema.Like many of his other films, 'I Wish' is simple, but effective in his tackling of subjects in modern society, like an Ozu for a new generation, with the dreams and motivations of all cast members considered.politic1983.blogspot.com

I first saw this at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. It was so good that I watched it again when it was publicly released.What was your dream when you were small? To be a dancer? To be an actor? To marry your teacher? To run faster? To reunite with your family after your parents' separation? For 12-year-old Koichi (Koki Maeda), his dream was for the volcano in Kagoshima to explode so he could go back to Osaka with his mom and live with his dad and younger brother Ryunosuke (Oshirou Maeda). Koichi accidentally heard that miracles happened when the first north and south bound bulletin trains passed each other in Kyushu. Elated, he called his younger brother in Osaka to plan for this secret rendezvous. What is appealing of the film is that it is totally carried by the children cast. Even grandpa, mama, teachers and strangers on the road were on their side – everyone was kind and everyone had their own dream. Grandpa was determined to try making his exclusive desert karukan. Mama missed his younger son but was too proud to get back with her husband. The teachers were all so kind to go along with the kids' kind lies. What I admire is how autonomous the children were in this movie. Not only did they have a dream, but they also actually developed a plan to realize their dream: Koichi and his friends looked for changes under the vending machines. When they found out it was not enough, they sold their toys and comic books and even gave up their swimming tuition. Then they made a detailed itinerary complete with train schedule and maps. The important point was their parents gave them a lot of freedom to do what they want.It did not come to my mind that the two brothers are real brothers behind the screen until I saw their old pictures in the later part of the movie. No wonder there were such strong resonance between them. All the characters were lovable in the film, even if they lie, even if they were too trusty - because they all have dreams and they believe in them. The message is also very positive: when there is dream, there will be miracles and things will fall into places. Even if miracles did not happen, we would be glad that we tried. A feel-good movie at the highest level. And it is exactly what Japan needs to rebuild itself from the ruins after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

If, as many have pointed out, Koreeda is Ozu's cinematic heir, then I Wish is Koreeda's take on Ozu's Good Morning. Both films focus on adorable young kids and Japanese family life, and I have no qualms about saying between the two films, Koreeda easily outdoes Ozu. Not only is Koreeda's depiction of children subtler and more intuitive (no fart jokes here), but he coaxes wonderfully naturalistic performances from his child actors. Is there a director alive who does better work with kids than Koreeda? The movie really takes flight once the kids hit the road on their quest, and I loved the Ozu-ish part where they meet an elderly couple that takes in all the children for a night. Just a wonderful movie with tons of heart. Puts the human in humanistic filmmaking.