Ichiban utsukushî natsu

The story of Firefly Dreams is about a girl growing up. Naomi is assigned to talk to Mrs. Koide, who has dementia. At first, Naomi doesn't talk with Mrs. Koide or her cousin Yumi. But Naomi feels she could be herself when she is with Mrs. Koide. The story is Naomi's experience of a summer that is thanks to Mrs. Koide. I like this film for two reasons. First, Naomi's humanity. I guess she is not a bad person. She just wants to put up a front. So, she makes money in many ways and buys brand products. She can't be kind to Yumi, who probably has a disability. But Mrs. Koide compliments her cuteness and doesn't get mad at her for smoking and drinking. Naomi can be who she is when talking to Mrs. Koide. Mrs. Koide recognizes Naomi's lack of confidence in herself. Second, flow of time. No big deal or emergency problems occur in this movie. It is a movie that makes audiences listen to the old stories of Mrs. Koide through clips. It made me feel gentle and nostalgic.

Firefly Dreams is basically a nice story about returning to traditional values in the face of the ugliness and shallowness of urban life. Packed off to relatives in the countryside by her parents, a young woman develops a variety of friendships - in particular one with an elderly woman who, it seems, has had an interesting past - and discovers herself in the process. What sets this film apart from others in the genre is the degree of understatement that pervades it. Events occur off camera and connections between events are made, but there is refreshingly little explication, leaving viewers to think for themselves. I would not call Firefly Dreams a masterpiece; the story is fairly predictable and simplistic, the characters are pretty generic, and the cinematography is unchallenging. But it is a nice film and leaves some tantalizing questions to mull over even as you return the DVD to the store.

The plot of this film reminded me of "On Golden Pond." In this case a teenage girl who is somewhat troubled is sent off to the country when her parents separate. She becomes reacquainted with an elderly relative who is suffering from Alzheimer's.

The pace of the film is slow, but the scenery is spectacularly beautiful, which most of us would not have expected from Japan as most films there are set in the big cities. The sounds of the cicadas made my wife very homesick for the country where she grew up.

The film tied for the audience award for best dramatic feature at Cinequest (the San Jose, CA film festival), which is where I saw it on 2/26/2002.

This film is about the change of the high school girl in the summer vacation. She had got wild because of her family problems but by staying with her cousin's family and getting involved with an old lady, something changes in her personality. She is very straightforward and her attitude are quite easily affected by her feelings. Especially she frequently changes her attitudes towards her innocent cousin. This seems too childish for me, so I do not like her. And some bond between she and the old lady made changes in her but when and why did they come so intimate? In our daily lives it often occurs that people become friendly before we know, though. Probably I think I demand reasons too much in stories.

I raise the part I didn't like above, but I liked the music used in this film and the scenery of the countryside. That made me feel relaxed.

Firefly Dreams is a movie about the friendship between a young teenage girl and an old Lady who she visits in her summer holidays. Naomi is a spoiled brat and send by her father to the countryside, after her mother runs away. There she works at the restaurant of her aunt and uncle. Close lives also Mrs Koide with whom she used to play when she was a kid. From there the story unfolds. I have to praise almost all aspects of the movie. The plot is well thought and all characters are believable and very interesting even the ones who just appear in a few scenes. The photography is marvellous, the landscape is breathtaking and rounds up the plot very nicely. The aesthetic is very different from recent Japanese movies I saw (e.g. from Kitano). It is violent free and it is set mainly in a rural area. Maybe this is so because the director is English and chose a different approach for portraying Japanese life, but this is just a speculation. The acting is great and for me this is the first time I think I learned something about normal Japanese everyday life through a movie. Surely the development of Naomi, how she grows up - and indeed has to grow up - through friendship and also sorrow, is the driving force of the movie. The movie has a slow pace, so if you are an action-movie fan, don't go. Everybody else: you will not regret it!