I Wish: Nos voeux secrets

Siblings try to find a way out of the circumstances imposed on them by their parents. Their lives are turned upside down when their parents divorce and custody arrangements split them up. Twelve-year-old Koichi ends up with his mother Nozomi, and they move in with her parents in a small village where she gets a job at a supermarket. Koichi's younger brother Ryunosuke, meanwhile, moves in with his dad Kenji, a struggling musician who can't hold on to a day job. The brothers miss each other and want to bring their parents back together, and when they hear of an urban legend that if two people make the same wish at the same time while watching two bullet trains pass one another, the wish will immediately come true, they decide this is the way to reunite the family.

It has its funny moments and it reminds you of your childhood (if you are more that 25 years old haha). The concept idea is a good one and the performance its quite good too. I was expecting way more to say the true, but everyone has its own tastes. Worth watching? 1 time, yes.

Pre-teen brothers Ryunosuke and Koichi (played by real-life brothers Ohshirô and Koki Maeda) are forced to live apart when their separated parents end up residing in opposite ends of Kyushu. Ryunosuke broods on this, while Koichi seems more at ease with the arrangements. Together, the brothers hatch a plan to meet at the point where the new shinkansen trains pass each other, after hearing an urban legend that the vortex created by the speed of the trains has the power to grant wishes. Meanwhile, granddad tries out a new sponge cake recipe, a friend of Koichi's has acting ambitions, and Dad is writing a new song.

The usual Kore-eda themes of fractured families and kids finding magic in a flawed universe are present, but by the director's own standards this is a much lighter, almost sugar-coated engagement with those themes. There is the signature naturalistic, engrossing performances from the child actors, with Ohshirô as Ryunosuke especially impressive in his conflicted, caring attempts to be re-united with his brother. Koki is more of a one-note outing, required to be relentlessly upbeat, which he does superbly. The scene where he moves his mother to tears on the phone plays on this astutely. Forcing two young brothers to live apart for their own selfish ends could be represented in darker tones, even as abuse, but Kore-eda keeps it all light and humorous, through the simple trope of having the children be sensible and down-to-earth, and the adults, especially the bickering parents, petty and immature. The sub-plots, involving sponge cake and acting ambitions, are so removed from the main story strand that they give the film an episodic, slightly meandering feel when they pop up. Ultimately they are distracting, making the story busier than it needs to be. They also stretch the running time to over two hours. While some will delight in spending time with such engaging children, the film felt flabby to me after the 90-minute mark. The ending, while admirably avoiding sentimentality, takes too long to come around.

Such is Kore-eda's stature that a host of A-listers pack the minor roles giving them more gravitas than normal. Jô Odagiri as the musician father, Kirin Kiki as the grandmother, and Hiroshi Abe as a disciplinarian teacher ply their day-shifts admirably.

There is a lot to enjoy in I Wish, but lacking the damning social critique of Nobody Knows, and the acerbic scalpel on family life of Still Walking, this is Kore-eda choosing to crowd please rather than stretch himself.

In Kagoshima, the boy Koichi (Koki Maeda) lives with his mother Nozomi (Nene Ohtsuka) in the house of his grandparents. Koichi misses his younger brother Ryunosuke (Ohshirô Maeda) and his father Kenji (Jô Odagiri), who live in Fokuoko, and he dreams on his family coming together again. One day, Koichi overhears that the energy released by two bullet trains passing by each other would grant wishes and he invites his two best friends, Tasuku (Ryôga Hayashi) and Makoto (Seinosuke Nagayoshi), to travel to the point of intersection of the two trains. Koichi also tells his plan to Ryunosuke that invites his three best friends to join him. Soon the seven children arrive to the meeting point in the journey of discoveries.

"Kiseki" is a simple and sensitive tale of loss of innocence of children that need to face reality instead of immature and naive dreams. The come of age of Koichi that accepts the divorce of his parents and of Megumi (Kyara Uchida) that decides to move to Tokyo to become an actress and Makoto that decides to bury his dog are clearly are depicted in the story. Ryunosuke is still a child and believes that his wish is the responsible for the chance his father and his friends will have in their career of musicians.

The direction of Hirokazu Koreeda and the performances are top-notch and the movie shows landscapes of the countryside of Japan that are unusual in Japanese features. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "O Que Eu Mais Desejo" ("What I Desire the Most")

Two young brothers, Kouichi and Ryuunosuke live apart in Fukuoka and Kagosima because of there parent's divorce. One day they know about a rumour that the person who sees the two new bullet trains passing each other for the first time gains his dream, and they plans to see it to make their wish to live together with their family again. With few friends of them, they goes to their meeting point. This film is very nice. We can see two brother's strong wish and their grow up in their spirits through the trip clearly. However, if I could say one thing, I want to see more about their past, or their life with their parent after they live apart. I could see their desire to live with their family again, but I could not see much trouble or conflict. However other than this, I think this film is very good and moving film.

This is the story of two young Japanese brothers who live apart following the break-up of their parents' relationship. The older boy dreams of his family reuniting and prays for a miraculous intervention in the form of a volcanic eruption, hoping this might lead to his evacuation from his grandparents' region and a return home. Then, when he discovers that the passing of the speeding Bullet trains, approaching from opposite directions, creates a 'cosmic' moment during which wishes are granted, he sets out with a few friends to meet his brother at the meeting point on the railway line. There they make their wishes - with varying results.

The two brothers are forced to deal with the consequences of their parents' choices, ones they have had no part in making. Their belief, to varying degrees, in the power of 'faith' (believing that wishes can come true) then leads them to have to face the consequences of their own choices. Given their youthful immaturity, there is real poignancy in witnessing their confrontation with some harsh realities.

The movie features brilliant performances from the young actors and an excellent supporting cast of adults. There is also gorgeous and evocative cinematography, scenes of the Japanese countryside and its urban impositions, not least the Bullet line itself elevated on its concrete trackbed.

It takes some time, too long perhaps, for the story to gain momentum. But once the youngsters embark on their journey to meet the trains, the story moves at a brisker, more engaging pace. The climax (yes there is a climax, contrary to the view of another reviewer) brings moments of intense beauty and sharp sadness, regret for the loss of childish innocence of as well as optimism in the hope for a better future.

So this is a slow-burner, but persistence brings rewards. Recommended.

(Viewed at The Cornerhouse, Manchester, UK 21.02.13)