Koichi Oosako is a young boy who lives with his mother and grandparents in a small town that is shadowed by a still active volcano. It has been six months since his parents have separated and his younger brother Ryunosuke still lives with his musician father. When Koichi finds out that when the first two speeding bullet trains meet, a miracle will happen. He and his friends then hatch a scheme to be there when the trains pass and yell out their wishes so that Koichi can wish for his parents to get back together. He tells Ryu, and persuades him to come along and wish for the same thing. But Ryu has accepted what has happened, and doesn't know if that's what he wants to wish for anymore.
Since this is my first introduction to Kore-eda, I can't really comment on his style or anything, but I can say this. He seems to be a filmic version of Haruki Murakami, in that he makes the everyday seem magical and takes his time over the small things that people take for granted. And this film really is about the normal magic that Murakami higlights expertly, especially in his short stories. This is also very gentle, and is largely made up of subplots that each of the characters go through. Like one of Ryu's friends, a girl who wants to be an actor despite her mother disapproving. Or Koichi's grandfather who used to be a baker and is trying to recreate traditional karukan cakes. Everything is very small scale, made fantastical because it is shown through the eyes of children.
And the children are exceptional. For some reason, these past few months have had incredible child ensembles. And this is no different. There is a part of the film where they each talk about what they would wish for and it seems almost like a documentary, the acting is so natural. This is helped by the fact that Koichi and Ryu are played by the incredible Maeda brothers. And considering that they only share about 10 minutes of screen time together, the bond between them is awesome even if you don't know that they are brothers. And the fact that there are no 'bad guys' makes the adults of this kids world the only 'bad guys' that are here, and the kids outshine the adults so much.
Now, I want to talk about the ending briefly, because it can be interpreted in a few different ways. Well, two different ways. So, if you want to see the film without spoilers, stop reading now. If you don't mind spoilers, then go ahead and read. At the end, each of the kids shout out a wish, except Koichi, who finally accepts that his parents are never going to get back together and 'chooses the world' instead. Now, all the other wishes to me seemed like they came true, or at least some of them did. For me, at least. There are a few shots that seem to confirm this, but it's more implied than right out said. But I'd still like to believe that they came true, maybe not through any actual magic (though that is debateable) but through the kids own determination and persistence. Again, open to interpretation, but I'd like to think that they came true.
So, again, I am sorry that this took so long and that it's so rambling. But oh well, go see this film. It's lovely and gentle and very easy to watch. The thing that I didn't like about it was mainly that the subtitles didn't translate any text, so I have no idea what the place names are or anything. But that's the only complaint that I have. Hopefully, I'll get the next review, which will be Killing Them Softly, up in the next few days. And hopefully it will be better quality than this. But go see I Wish, it's adorable. Until next time, readers.
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