Power, impotence and abuse of power are the themes of a film that's about the whole world, but also about a world down to scale, populated by secondary school pupils with their indefinable feelings.
For instance there is Ami, a girl balancing on the brink of suicide at the start of the film, but later she turns out to be able to cope better with life than her fellow students. The most bullied pupils turn out not to be the greatest victims in this topsy-turvy world. It's the reckless that finally get into most trouble.
In this bored, adolescent world, it doesn't just come down to bullying and flirting with suicide. Perverted fantasies are turned into reality, right up to their gruesome consequences. The film opens with images of the burning WTC towers on September 11, 2001 and later in the film, references keep returning to social and political reality outside the world of school.
The mood of recalcitrance and boredom with an undertone of aggression is recorded with great alacrity. The camera has stuck onto the adolescents and the cutting is just as whimsical as the protagonists. Cheering and crying are very close together here. The acting of the very young actors is equally unpolished which makes it very authentic. The director started work on the script when he was only 19 and this must also have contributed to the raw credibility of the film. (GjZ)
- Director
- Nakajima Ryo
- Premiere
- European premiere
- Country of production
- Japan
- Year
- 2007
- Festival Edition
- IFFR 2008
- Length
- 92'
- Medium
- DV cam NTSC
- Original title
- Oretachi no sekai
- Language
- Japanese
- Producer
- Onomichi Koji
- Sales
- PIA Film Festival
- Screenplay
- Nakajima Ryo
- Cinematography
- Nakajima Ryo
- Editor
- Nakajima Ryo
- Production Design
- Miyako Yumiko, Sakuma Kyuichi
- Music
- Ohno Kyoji
- Cast
- Taniguchi Yoshihiko, Hata Arisa