1999 nen no natsu yasumi

I took a serious look at this film on march the 7th 1997,, in line with other such movies as part of an East Asian film series held at IU in Bloomington Indiana.

Since then i've payed close attention to the japanese academy awards, Juzo Itami(and his death),,being in college and having suicidal ideation made it all the more comforting in that one particular director. Minbo&Tampopo along with Taxing woman.This lead to Qiu Ju, Raise the red lantern and Ju dou, all by director Zhang Yimou. Lastly was Why has the Bodhi-Dharma left for the east, by korean director Bai Young-Kyun.

I owe it all to the memorable visual eye candy and myself coming out and coming of age, as to the reason that i love this film. Also for the fact that seeing it for the second time was like the first time. Seeing it with my aunti who was an avid film freak, not keeping in touch with her so thinking that i would never see it again. Then to just come upon it one day in a required fine arts assignment in college. The task was to see all the films of all the film series, run by both the fine arts dept and the language and cultural depts. Seeing animations from the eastern block countries of a political nature and then the high art surrealistic movies of 1970's germany, and various films that reminded me of Baraka.Reintroductions to Maya Arden. All this inspiration from one source.

I love film, but hollywood 90+ percent of the time missed the mark. Sure a few good scenes here followed by some good lines there with lots of advertising savvy to get you there in the first place. Though if you want good movies that get you to think outside of your comfort zone,the whole world is out there. Hollywood movies and their formulaic approach is like apple sauce for the aged when they have teeth.

Summer Vacation: 1999 is a dreamlike coming-of-age story set in a Japanese high school all but deserted for the holidays. The only boys left on campus are orphans, They keep up the daily routine and, on the side, learn about love.

It's not quite that simple, though -- for us. The narrative is set up so that each section is a dream sequence of the section that came before it -- like a Japanese Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie without the black humor. It's a boy's school, but the majority of the four boys is played by girls (probably to accentuate the homoerotic subtext of the film). And for some reason that remains obscure, it's set in 1999, with the students using weirdly anachronistic tech gadgets that would almost seem amusing if the film had any room for humor.

When a boy, Yu, commits suicide, their small group never quite gets over it. But when a boy named Kaoru -- the virtual image of Yu -- appears at their doorstep as a new student, no one's certain if it's a sham or some fantastic coincidence. He's certainly more aggressive than meek Kaoru, and his presence awakens romantic stirrings in the boys that will lead to conflict and even violence.

The setting is pretty, the photography is pretty -- even the boys (rather, girls) are pretty. They talk about feelings and deep emotional things that are off-territory even for most girls. It's not surprising that somehow the film itself comes off as false.

A battle for love and acceptance between four students, all trapped in an empty school located in what seems to be the middle of a forest, with nothing else in sight but a lake filled with tragedy, as well as a train station that brings unrest in the form of a ghost. Brightness pierces the screen, like a warm and cozy summer, the same summer as the one our leads desperately want to live in eternally. Calm winds blowing leaves accompanies a soothing score, guiding us with care through a jumbled mess of emotions, which slowly rises up to the surface as they untangle. This gives an illusory feeling to the story, even more so for the artistic choice of casting all girls in the roles of the four boys, which adds even more peculiarity to this futurist world.

Not much else to say, there's some over-explanation, but it never cheapened my enjoyment of the narrative.

It's touching to read the reviews for this very special movie. I actually watched it only because I found a VHS copy selling for $1 at a thrift store and it is certainly one of my all time favorites. And this film provides a strange speculative "answer" to so many films out there about... being in a romantic quagmire. I think RW Fassbinder would have adored this movie and I bet Wong Kar Wai did and many others....

It looks as though there is no DVD of this film available but at the moment used copies of the VHS are available starting at 2 bucks on amazon... and you you and YOU should get one!

I have to add more lines: I got mine!

This film is the best movie I have ever seen.I like the actresses and also the story.The story is interesting and unusual.I have seen this movie for at least 10 times .I like it very much .The actresses act very well.They are professional although they act as boys.Overall,this film is very good.All of you will enjoy it.