Movielogr

Rating: 6 stars

Tags

Japan mubi deconstruction rehearsal actor acting experimental relationship friendship

All movies seen on 04/10/2020

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Domains (2019)

Directed by Natsuka Kusano

Drama

Overview

Aki and Naoko are childhood friends who are drifting apart as adults. Immersed in her family life, Naoko now has a husband and daughter; Aki, on the other hand, remains single and is on leave from work due to a personal crisis. The plot might sound familiar but it has never been told like this. The director Kusano Natsuka stages the interactions through an actors’ table-read and, as the lines are repeated, the scenes gradually develop into on-location conversations. Moreover, she repositions the dramatic peak of the story to the beginning: Aki has murdered Naoko’s daughter.

Length 150 minutes

Actors

Asami Shibuya | Tomo Kasajima | Adachi Tomomitsu | Ryu Kenta

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

Not an easy film to consume… or even write about, for that matter. Very non-traditional method of telling a story that’s more of a dissection of the components. Certainly haven’t seen anything like it nor could I recommend it to just anyone. It is a challenging viewing as the actors table read and rehearse the same scenes over and over with the camera focusing on each actor as the story develops then folds back on itself when the same lines are repeated.

This is a very unique film that may work better in an intimate stage play setting in a small theater. I suppose it’s meta in that way where the actors are characters portraying different characters of this rather tragic event. Glad to have seen this but not sure I would watch it again.

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