劇場映画
Walking Time: Waiting for That Day
2023
00:01:36
I can’t know what the future holds, so for now, let’s just decide that something good will happen.
In 2020, when behavior was restricted by the COVID-19 pandemic, it became difficult even to gather with friends, and I found myself growing used to a reality in which the things I wanted to do would not come true. Those were painful days, filled with anger that had nowhere to go. Yet because “everyone in the world” was in the same situation, the pace of society naturally slowed, and while spending quiet time confronting myself and my family, I began to think about “what has been” and “what is to come.” Perhaps that slow, strolling kind of time was itself something “good.” This film captures one night in 2020, when the Leonid meteor shower fell, as experienced by people of different generations and professions. In the unassuming scenes of everyday life, both difficult moments and good moments are captured. The romantic phenomenon layered over them becomes light, and seeing the protagonists shoulder to shoulder, it is impossible not to hope that “the future will surely bring good things.” It has become a new work that records the “present day” we are living through with perseverance, without forgetting hope.
The director is Akihiro Toda, known for his skill in directing young actors and ensemble dramas, including the film Name, based on an original story by Naoki Prize-winning author Shusuke Michio, 13 Moon Girls, and We Will Wake to the Same Morning. The screenplay is by Gaku Kawasaki, who was chosen to co-write with Koki Mitani for the drama Someone’s Watching starring Shingo Katori. The young actors who serve as the protagonists of the ensemble include Kaho Maehara, who has appeared in a series of notable works such as Ah, Wilderness by director Yoshiyuki Kishi and A Girl with a Lehman’s Scale by Yujiro Harumoto; and Karen Otomo, who continues to appear in films by distinguished directors including The Bride of Rip Van Winkle by director Shunji Iwai and Let Me Eat Your Pancreas by director Sho Tsukikawa. Other cast members include Ayumu Nakajima, Yurina Yanagi, Ryo Shinoda, Megane, Soma Sanjoh, Yuuka Sasaki, Hidenobu Abera, and Tsutomu Takahashi, among many others ranging from trusted young talents to veterans. Actors with experiences closely tied to their characters delivered remarkably authentic, breathing performances.
