Genta Matsugami, 2019, Japan
This was on FilmIn as part of this year’s Asian Film Festival Barcelona. Spanish cinephiles who don’t live in Barcelona or Madrid must be so happy that everything’s gone online this year!
Unfortunately, the film didn’t quite live up to what I was expecting. It was okay; started off a bit dull but got better. It’s the story of a small-town teenager who makes fetish videos on the side (‘schoolgirls crushing things with their feet’) so she can get herself to university. Her feckless, layabout father and brother aren’t any help. Her school is not very supportive. The criminal underworld she dabbles with is dangerous. But all she wants to do is get an education so she can escape her situation.
What I enjoyed most about the film was getting a glimpse into a world I would never see: Japanese council flats, schools and men’s toilets.
But, meh, not much more to say about it really.
