Late Bloomer

Shibata’s feature début nn 891102 (screened in 2000 in Rotterdam) is about a man who was obsessed by the idea of recreating the traumatising sound of the atom bomb. The black & white, visually impressive sequel Late Bloomer also has a very unusual subject. The fascinating protagonist is Sumida (played by the multiply handicapped actor Sumida Masakiyo), a man in need of care who has limited motor functions and needs a speech computer to express himself, but who is anything but retarded and regularly lives it up. One of the people who looks after him is his best friend Take, a punk musician. One day, a new volunteer comes to see Sumida: Nobuko is a student who is collecting material for her graduation thesis. Sumida feels attracted to her and invites her to attend Take’s punk concert. But when Take and Nobuko meet, it looks as if Sumida will be left high and dry. This leads to an emotional conflict with horrific consequences. The cinematographic and psychological insight of Shibata, together with Sumida’s unique performance, provide for an unforgettable film: human and humorous, horrific and ironic at the same time. Shibata about his protagonist: ‘He is such a knockout. We all got interested in him and then became big fans of him. Actually, we are totally possessed by his charm now.’ (GT)