Prior to lining up for Abbas Kiarostami‘s Like Someone in Love here in Cannes the sky opened up and the rain began to pour. As is the necessity, I dutifully got in line under the shared cover of a tiny umbrella. We stood outside for a good 30 minutes until finally taking our seats. Set to begin at 7:30 PM, the film will play for an hour and 49 minutes. It’s not going to start on time. I’m fading. The lights dim. The movie begins…
We are introduced to Akiko (Rin Takanashi), a young prostitute who’s lying to her boyfriend (Ryo Kase). We’re in a darkened lounge where she’s entertaining an older gentleman but prepared to head off to her next stop. Her grandmother is in town, but she’s gone out of her way not to answer her phone calls or return her several messages, though we are given the opportunity to listen to each of them.
We come to meet Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), an elderly, unassuming gentleman. He is not the first person you think of when you think of a prostitute’s next john and he acts as such, setting the table for a meal and his soft gentle touches are as sexual as things get.
From here we meet Akiko’s rage-based boyfriend and a curious next door neighbor. What is going on? What does it all mean? Why are there so many driving scenes? Why? Why? Why?
The reason I ask, and the reason you’re not getting a full review, is because during this entire film I continually fade in and out of consciousness. My head constantly jerking back to attention as I gave way to the Sandman. The Cannes effect was kicking in and a lack of sleep was coming back to haunt me.
This is not a film to watch when your eyes can hardly stay open and I found it more than ironic that at one point Takashi falls asleep behind the wheel at a red light. We were, briefly, one.
I looked at my notepad after leaving the theater. I wrote down one thing… “almost hits kids”. Every time Takashi would leave his driveway or return he would nearly run over pedestrians walking by, at one point a woman with baby stroller. Did this mean anything? It surely wasn’t an accident.
On one hand I blamed the film for putting me to sleep, but on the other I clearly haven’t given the film a fair shake. I discussed it with a few people today, some that liked it, some that didn’t. Pieces of those conversations make me want to see it again and it certainly was a film that sought to challenge its audience, something I welcome openly.
I felt it was only appropriate I write at least a little something since I did see 98% of the movie, but I would be lying if I said absorbed more than 50% of it.
