Presented in selection under the heading: Un certain Regard, at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the third feature film by Hiroshi Okuyama describes Japanese culture in general and raises themes such as friendship, childhood, perseverance and sport.
Takuya is a frail and shy young boy who lives with his family in a small town in northern Japan. In this city, only practicing sport allows you to get through the harsh snowy winters without getting depressed. Every day, Takuya goes with his best friend to the indoor ice rink to play ice hockey with children his age. His level of play is particularly low and there are rare times when his classmates do not make fun of him because of his handicaps (including great difficulty expressing himself).
Motivated by his parents to continue his social outings, the young Japanese returns to training, but without conviction. The chance of life, however, will give him a slight helping hand. Fascinated by Sakura, a teenager from Tokyo whom he meets regularly during training, the discreet Takuya is mainly captivated by the figure skating that she practices with Arakawa, her personal coach, with whom she is secretly in love…
Mainly focused on competitive sport and acrobatic figures, the new feature film by Hiroshi Okuyama, to whom we already owe Makanai in the Maiko house (2023) et Jesus (2019) starts from a good intention with endearing characters, but gets bogged down somewhat in a disturbing meticulousness.
Equipped with background music that would make an insomniac snore (Dutch waltz and some melodies generally used in call centers), this creation is however not as boring as it seems. Sports enthusiasts will find what they’re looking for, as well as fans of a Japan that’s a little less flamboyant than usual.
-Hiroshi Okuyama always wanted to make a film about figure skating, a sport he was introduced to as a child. The author explains that not being good at this practice, he had to resolve to only evoke memories in his new film. It’s while listening to the song My Sunshine from the Humbert group Humbert that the story began to come to life in his head.
To play the characters of Takuya and Sakura, Hiroshi chose young people who knew how to skate. And since they had no experience as actors, the director did not give them the script. All the lines were dictated to them on set, without them memorizing them in advance. The goal is to ensure that they experience the scenes filmed as if they were real events and that they interpret them freely. Made on the island of Hokkaido, this creation presents the characters well, accompanying the main scenes with soft background music.
My Sunshine was presented in selection Un Certain Regard at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival as well as at the 29th Busan Film Festival (South Korea). Well staged and original, this social drama introduces us to artistic ice dance with captivating grace and simplicity, while treating current themes with finesse.
Duration 1h30 minutes, Japanese social drama.
Director and screenwriter: Hiroshi Okuyama
Avec : Sosuke Ikematsu (Arakawa), Keitatsu Koshiyama (Takuya), Kiara Nakanishi (Sakura), Ryūya Wakaba (Igarashi), Maho Yamada (Mère de Sakura), Yunho (Ami de Takuya). Production: Art House, Charades, Tokyo Theatre, Comme des Cinémas.
Distribution : First Hand
