Reviews by
asako I & II
“I feel like i’m dreaming right now. No, everything up until now feels more like a long dream. It was a really happy dream, I felt like I’d matured. But now i’m awake, and I… haven’t changed at all” What can I say about Asako I and II? A film that introduces you to a happy couple, then suddenly shatters your expectations with a bitter ending. In my view, it's a great representation of human actions and feelings. Nobody is 100% faithful, not even to their own principles, how could they be to someone else? Although I'm someone who truly abhors betrayal, I don’t feel like I can judge Asako, because I think that when a relationship ends without explanations and without a definitive end, you never truly get over it. And this is very clear because when Baku returns, she can finally close this cycle and feel free, even if in the process she hurt herself and especially Ryohei, who loved her so much even knowing that this day would come eventually. I think it's impossible to write a review without talking about Ryohei, because he was a wonderful and very real character, and yet very kind. I wouldn't have let Asako into the house after all that, because seriously, living with someone for years only for them to trade you in for their ex (who could be your twin brother) and you still "forgive" her is something very few people can do. Anyway, I think it's a great movie and I really wish it had more recognition. I wish Japanese works in general had more recognition because I feel that almost all Asian films aren't valued, even if the message is so good.
zero day review
Zero Day is one of the few films (that I've seen) about school massacres that perfectly conveys the feeling of being inside the minds of the shooters. Elephant from 2003 was a good representation if we think about it from the students' perspective, showing how everything was just a normal school day until it all happened. Zero Day, however, from the beginning, introduces us solely to the world of Calvin and Andre; everything they allow us to see, we see. The tapes they recorded make everything bitterly close to reality, because Dylan and Eric were also just best friends planning things and leaving records of something no one would ever imagine. I think it's very important to point out that in the film neither of the boys is portrayed as a good guy or a victim, and at no point are they exonerated or their actions justified. In fact, the film shows exactly how Calvin and Andre are two disturbed teenagers with distorted minds. Calvin is often associated with a more sensitive and melancholic image, which isn't wrong, but it's not the only way the character expresses himself. Cal has (few) scenes that show his manipulative, cold, and selfish side. When he's in the cemetery with Rachel, he says the famous line, "I'm insecure and I need attention," but of course, Cal is being sarcastic, because he's not insecure, at least not in the traditional way. Cal hated the world, hated people, and how they saw him: as someone small, unimportant. In the end, Cal wanted to die because the world wasn't a place that made sense to him; he wasn't the type of person who cared about others. He never defended anyone, not even Rachel, the only friend he has that we're introduced to. He didn't truly care about people. I think the only person he cared about was Andre, and even then there are controversies, like the fact that he hid the fact that they were going to kill each other at the end of the massacre because he knew that if he said anything, Andre might back out. Anyway, I think he's a character with a lot of room for interpretation, because he's not JUST a fictional character, he's a representation of a real killer, someone who thought, planned, suffered, and felt anger. You can't fully comprehend someone's mind, and I think in these situations it's even harder. As for Andre, I personally find him easier to read. Andre was a boy who felt anger towards the world, and unlike Cal, he didn't know how to hide or soften it. Practically every time we see Andre, he makes it clear that his feelings are of indignation, frustration, disappointment, and anger, perhaps because he wasn't seen the way he wanted, since, like Cal, he also hated being seen as someone small. I think it's cool that the two are extremely similar, but their reactions to the same problems are very different. Andre wanted to kill everyone and didn't care if he died doing it, Cal wanted to die and didn't care if he had to kill to do it. I think it's a great portrayal of Dylan and Eric, and I hope that both characters and the perpetrators are not forgotten. Dylan and Eric were a mistake that can never go unnoticed again. Bullying must be increasingly condemned
