A Blue Automobile

Okuhara wrote the story of A Blue Automobile with Mukai Kosuke (scriptwriter of Hazy Life and Ramblers by Rotterdam favourite Yamishita Nobuhiro), based on a manga by Yoshimoto Yoshitomo, who managed to capture the boredom, loneliness and everyday reality of Japan like no one else. With his previous films Timeless Melody and Wave, Okuhara already showed that he is not only a patient narrator with a great insight into the feelings and problems of the younger generation, but also a stylish and stable film maker. A Blue Automobile is about DJ and record seller Richio, a kid in his twenties whose bleached hair makes him undeniably cool, but behind his sunglasses, he hides a scar from his childhood. An accident, with which the film opens, also traumatised him psychologically: he knows he’s lucky to be alive, yet he also feels an enormous emptiness and frustration. That may be the reason why he is more honest and straightforward than the rest. His dynamic girlfriend Akemi is a stable factor in his life, but she wants more from Richio than he can give. Her sister Konomi is also interested in him. The fourth protagonist is the boss of the record store, who has marital problems. A Blue Automobile deserves a large audience. It is probably Okuhara’s best film so far and the excellent cast certainly contributes: Arata (Richio) is well known from Kore-Eda’s Afterlife and Distance; Miyazaki (Konomi) from Aoyama’s Eureka. (GT)