Venice 79 – Love Life: review of the film by Kôji Fukada
From 9 September 2022 in Italian cinemas after premieres at the Venice and Toronto festivals, the new and intense female portrait signed by Kôji Fukada with a Fumino Kimura in a state of grace.
Koji Fukada returns with Love life after the definitive consecration obtained in 2016 with Harmonywinner of the jury prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, which rightly projected him into the Olympus of directors of the Seventh Contemporary Japanese Art, Koji Fukada it attracted the attention of the public and professionals to the point of anxiously awaiting the next tests. They prove just as compelling as the series The real thing and the family drama A missing girlwhich have done nothing but further increase the coat of arms of an author who grew up in the court of Kiyoshi Kurosawa and much love from the cinema of great masters of the caliber of Eric Rohmer And Marcel Carné.
Formation and influence, these, which can be clearly seen even in his latest effort behind the camera with the title Love lifedistributed in Italy by Theodora movie The September 9, 2022 a few days after the first appearances on the big screen of the Venice International Film Festival he was born in Toronto Film Festivalwhere it has been presented in competition and in the Contemporary World Cinema section respectively.
For its Love lifeKôji Fukada was inspired by the song of the same name written by the musician Akiko Yano in 1991
For what is in effect yet another exceptional female portrait of a filmography full of raw pearls and extraordinary solos, Fukada was inspired by the song of the same name that contained in the album Love lifereleased by the musician Akiko Yano in 1991. The same song that accompanies the last minutes and the credits of a film that takes us in the wake of a woman named Taeko, whose life flows quietly next to her husband and little son Keita until a terrible and tragic accident pushes the child’s biological father to return after no news of him for years. A return that completely distorts the couple’s existence, questioning their future.
The Japanese filmmaker takes the viewer by the hand in a story that fascinates and moves thanks to his ability to combine lightness and drama
The Japanese filmmaker accompanies the spectator’s drama by the hand in a story that thrills and moves thanks to his ability to combine lightness and, which alternate or blend seamlessly over the two hours available. He does it with the grace of the touch of a writing that is always measured and balanced, with the formal rigor of a geometric framework, clean and never invasive, but above all with constant attention and a love for the main and secondary characters. Which you agree to Love life of tearing tender smiles and at the same time wetting the cheeks, begging the heart with a feather and then piercing it with a sharp blade. Extremes that allow the fruition and accompany the spectator by the hand and turn on a journey into the feelings and moods of men and women put to the test by the sudden and unexpected arrival of a “tsunami”.
Love life is an intense female portrait entrusted to the skill of a Fumino Kimura in a state of grace
Here then is that Fukada’s film, in addition to being an intense female portrait entrusted to the skill of one I smoke Kimura in a state of grace and in the smell of Coppa Volpi, who in the role of the protagonist shows off a performance that would shatter any emotional thermometer, has narrative and dramaturgical roots in themes dear to the Japanese filmmaker and other illustrious compatriots such as Hirokazu Kore’eda And Naomi Kawase, starting with the unpredictability of life, passing through the complexity of emotional ties and the elaboration of mourning. In Love life everything flows like incandescent “magma” overwhelming the audience and characters, giving them changing emotions and profound food for thought.
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Direction – 4
Screenplay – 4
Photography – 3
Acting – 4.5
Sound – 3
Emotion – 4