Un été à toute épreuve

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, 1997, by Tetsuya Nakashima, a fairly short film (1h13), deeply touched me with its lightness, its humor, its summer spirit. But also, because behind its (false) simplicity, hides themes that concern every viewer, wherever they are: childhood, its small humiliations experienced as abominable dramas, threatening the future adults that they are to transform them into losers for life; the resulting traumas; relationships with parents; the parents themselves, sometimes having difficulty evacuating their own old traumas; and then of course the fantasies born at the dawn of adolescence, and among them the most obsessive for a young boy: girls' big breasts! How can one come to terms with them when the little girls around them are obviously devoid of them? And anyway, how can you seduce anyone when you can't even do a backflip on the horizontal bar?

Nakashima's story is a delicate family chronicle, grappling with the summer torpor that looms at the end of the school year. Everyone, young and old, has their own problems that they try to cope with as best they can: frustration (Takashi, the little boy narrator), impulses (Natsuko, the teenage girl who constantly throws herself at Takashi to cover him with kisses, much to his horror), feelings of guilt (Takashi's father), nostalgia (his mother), school bullying (a high school student), and an overly sensitivity (Tomoko, the little girl with pigtails who also fails at the backflip).

The film exudes a great freshness, blending tenderness and humor (I laughed many times). Nakashima never delivers any moral or judgment on his characters. He shows them as they are, yet with kindness and irony. The staging, stripped down but often inventive and favoring beautiful frames, sometimes refers to Ozu or, more closely, seems to announce Kore-Eda. We leave the film feeling lighter and with a smile on our lips. What more could you ask for?

Nakashima's subsequent career would be very different in tone. After the crazy and enjoyable Kamikaze Girl, his films would become increasingly dramatic... and would showcase a talent he constantly reiterated on screen: Memories of Matsuko (2006), a pure gem that cannot be compared to any other film, Confessions (2010), a masterpiece about vengeance, or the very depressing and powerful The World of Kanako (2014).

Nakashima's debut feature is a simple, charming and welcoming coming of age story. Aside from the always spot-on photography, a certain artistic flair and a slightly comically off atmosphere nothing here suggested that Nakashima would become a master of style, that it's a thoroughly impressive debut obviously marking the beginning of a great artist is on the other hand quite clear.

I particularly loved the Ozu-esque focus and depiction of children and seemingly unimportant school tasks. The children having to redo a certain gymnastic work-out after school until they got it right, focusing on repetition after repetition added both emotion, soul and humor. And yes, this is a charmingly funny film, done in a semi-minimalistic way about a young boy growing up, experiencing his family and school situation, while being a tad too focused on tits. In fact, the first line is "I love big tits".

And though that might rub you the wrong way, it's actually quite cute in it's way. He narrates through his child eyes, and a lot is actually very heart warming, sometimes even poignant. I felt that the flashbacks to his mother as a child and her dealing with her mother's illness was, however well done, a bit of a digression which too a very small degree fit into the rest of the film, but aside from this is was a great experience. I hope more people take the time to check this little film out. It's just 73 minutes. 8/10.

"Happy-Go-Lucky" is one of my favourite films from the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. I still can't believe it hasn't been released in North America yet.

The film is centered around a young boy and his dysfunctional family. From his slutty sister, to his father who is never around, to his mother who has to bare with it all. The boy is also a kind of misfit in school. He is one of five students in the class who can't do a simple exercise in gym class and are forced to practise for days to get it right. The film is filled with beautiful imagery and ponders the questions of life many young children ask themselves. Like why do people who get constantly bullied, bully others when they get the chance?

The movie is also a love story between the boy and a girl who has to go through the grueling practices after school with him. There are moments in this film that are simply unforgettable and really make you think afterwards. I really can't tell you in words how remarkable this movie is.

"Happy-Go-Lucky" is an amazing achievement and a touching story that will stay with me forever. So, if you ever hear this movie is playing near you, go out of your way to watch it.