momorytm

A 9-year-old girl goes to Christmas party with her father and brother. She finds out something special. I do not expect a happy ending somehow from the beginning of the story. The film has neither much ups and downs nor a clear ending. Yet, it makes the audience gradually feel something as they watch. After finishing watching the film, I notice some points that could be considered foreshadowing. In the beginning, the mother does not react after the father kisses her. She is kind of rejected by her kids. She looks at the father and kids out of the window. It does not really show her emotions, but I can tell that she knows something and what is going to happen next. The way they shoot and edit is really interesting to me. In the beginning, only part of their body is shown in the screen with some materials such as a toy, a cigarette, a pair of shoes or colorful materials like a little girl's tights and a floor with Christmas music playing from the radio. I think that the filmmakers did nice work making the film so aesthetic. Overall, I like how the story is going and how the filmmakers edit and put aesthetic materials in the film.

A middle-aged, polite man is late for an appointment at the social welfare department. He argues over his lateness with a woman at the department until a tragedy happens. As I start watching this film, CCTV comes on. I cannot understand what is happening, just being a bystander. As a story goes on, I'm pulled into the situation where two characters are arguing. I start feeling sorry for a man and disliking a woman. At the same time, I know a bad thing is going to happen to her next because the CCTV scene, in the beginning, shows what happens at the department, but not in detail. So, when I eventually understand what actually happens to her in the end, I am so shocked. It is shocking visually, and the dull sound makes it even terrifies me. The scene was so strong that I cannot pay attention to what the man's action at the end. I think the director wants the audience to tell through this film not only how cruel social welfare department is in the UK but also the choice between protecting himself or taking a moral action will affect your life later.

A little German boy and his neighborhood little Jewish boy are good friends like blood brother. One day, a German boy tries to go on a trip to Toyland with his best friend. The tone of the film was really dark and it can be told by the filter and the music in film. And, the title not only shows a keyword in film but also effectively contradicts with the theme and emphasize the grief represented in the film. At first glance, I cannot follow what is happening because the film does not follow the chorological order. And, I am still wondering whether the mother saves her neighborhood child intentionally from the beginning or notices that his child is not on train and saves his neighborhood child unintentionally. But, I still have a question about the consequence either way. I think that the mother saves him simply for his son and the Jewish parents. Yet, I sense that there is still more important factor in the scene of meeting the Jewish kid on a train. Overall, this film makes us think about the history of Jewish people and Nazi Germany and reminds us not to make it such tragedy again.

An around-50-year-old lady rushes on the train, but she does not make it. She meets a black guy and will have a strange experience at a restaurant during lunch time. I really like this film regarding the story and music. I think that the black guy stole her salad at first because he has the tag with his beanie. Then, when I see the climax of this film, it makes me realize that I am one of the people who have a prejudice about race although it is not extreme like the lady in the film. We unconsciously tend to think that black people stole people's stuff. This film tells a message straightforwardly that there is a prejudice about African American. Also, in the end, the lady still ignores a black man begging for money and walk through. It shows that people do not change so immediately and it is hard to eliminate prejudice. In addition to the storyline, I like the music played at the beginning, at-the-lunch-date scene, and the end. Not only it is put in the right time creating an atmosphere that fits the scene, but also, in my opinion, the music itself is so beautiful. I like that they put those kinds of jazz music coming from African American descent to the film regarding a racial issue. While this film is heartwarming, it still makes us consider racism at the same time, which I think is nice.

A boy of African descent moves to a new school because of his mother's work. When he meets his classmates, he faces a challenge regarding his skin color. I like this film at first because I'm interested in a problem associating with race and ethnicity. I think it is going to be a boy challenging the racial discrimination he faced, overcoming the challenge, and becoming proud of who he is. But, it turns out to end at the middle of this scenario where he is about to overcome the challenge. Sometimes, filmmakers leave the scene the protagonist is about to overcome his/her problem and make the audience wonder what is going to happen to him/her. I like the strategy but I guess it doesn't work in this film. The last scene is too ambiguous. I cannot see what his mother is thinking and why another kind boy in class is so nice to him. It leaves me with many questions and makes me kind of disappointed. Regarding the camera work, the first scene is a little bit too much to show the audience the theme of the film. The camera shoots the boy's appearance a lot. It is important to imply a message with visual images but I think it is too much. Overall, I like the idea of this film. I like how it shows from perspectives of Japanese children looking at "hafu Japanese." But, the story is a little bit vague, and I do not like how the first and last scene are made.

An 8-year-old schoolboy, who likes her teacher, is trying to attract her. When he knew she has a boyfriend, he challenges him to a duel. The story is straightforward. A man loves a woman. A love rival appears. And, he wins, and they live happily ever after. It is an ordinary romantic story, but with a little schoolboy and his teacher. I think that this will be a comedic story at first, but I was so surprised that it turned out to have a little bit of a thriller element in the climax. It was, however, not actually a dark film when the ending is revealed. I think the creators of this film did a great job. We can see a more comedic approach in the end. Music used in this film was nice. It effectively creates the tone in scenes. This film also uses materials effectively such as a ring, a poster of a cowboy, a cowboy boots and a gun. For example, a ring emphasizes the difficulty of bridging the age gap well. Materials represent something characters feel. Even though characters do not have a dialogue, materials tell the audience the story well. Overall, I really like this film regarding actors, music, and materials.

A middle-aged woman is walking alone and feeling lonely. When she gets on a train, she meets a man who is seeking a girlfriend. I like the first part of this film, the woman walking alone and looking at a couple. It empathizes loneliness of the woman perfectly even though she does not say anything. Also, I'm impressed that this film clearly shows the woman is a protagonist of the movie although she did not have a dialogue while a man has a dialogue almost the entire film. But I guess most of us can sympathize with the woman's feeling over the man because we can see how she feels more than him by her reaction. I think the entire film is well done including the story, camera work, and casting. The audience will be surprised by the ending. I wonder whether it was the woman's fault or man's one. She might be responsible for herself sticking in the idea of love or becoming desperate for a boyfriend. She should have been more careful not to be grabbed a chance immediately. The man also might be responsible for what he has been done. He did not try to deceive her into believing what he says, but this is a good lesson that you should not do things so confusing when it comes to relationship things. Which they sympathize with is up to the audience, which makes the story interesting. Overall, I really enjoyed watching this film.

A Western man and a Japanese woman are married, but their relationship does not go well. They take care of a boy who is half-Western and half-Japanese for three days by a strange coincidence, and it changes their relationship afterward. Through watching the film, I was able to understand the message that the little change the boy brings changes relationship between the man and woman. I thought we can see this kind of situation in our life, which is that some changes could solve the problems we have. Changes influence both positively and negatively our life. But talking and trying to understand each other is more important, which is the message I thought this film tries to deliver.

Regarding technical aspects, the scenes without dialogue are amazing. It succeeds in expressing protagonists' emotion more than the scenes with dialogue. It makes me think that visual storytelling is principal. I especially like the scene where the man, woman, and boy play around on the beach, which emphasize the setting of Kamakura.

Overall, I enjoy the content of this film and the technique they use for this film.

Some people seem to be stuck in their life, but then they realize what they need to do, overcome the struggle and start moving on after "a moment." I like a film strategy that the first scene which is confusing makes a perfect scene at the end of the story. This film is one of the films that use the strategy, and audience will notice what "a moment" means at almost the end of the story. I enjoyed figuring out what will be going on in the film and also could not expect it at all. This film uses a multi-protagonist structure meaning that a movie consists of several people's story. I like this structure because it keeps audience from being bored and makes them keep thinking about each story. However, I couldn't understand a few character's stories. Although there is no dialogue in this film, some people's stories are apparent and easy to understand. I could see the characters' feeling through their facial expression and behavior but not their background. The tone of this film is overall sad and anxious but became hopeful at the end. I liked the transition, and I am sure that it is effective to deliver the message that the writer or director wanted to tell.

Something suddenly attacked people living an ordinary day in New York City. People fall down one after another on the ground while the siren of an ambulance keeps sounding in the entire city. I liked this film because it is really catchy first of all. The cuts quickly change in each scene, and it makes audience uneasy and think what is going to happen next. It also creates tension in the film, which makes this comedic film somewhat serious. The black-and-while visual images help to set serious tone as well. These elements make me think this film is something serious although this is supposed to be comedy. The way it is edited to express the driver's emotion was great. There is a contrast between the cuts of his face and the entire picture of the situation in the middle of film. The cut keeps switching, which help audience realize his feeling. I liked the way each scene is plotted in this order. A film strategy like the first scene which is confusing makes perfect scene at the end of the story is what I like to see in film. Furthermore, there are a sound of applause and siren at the same time making the situation ironic. He feels great; however, people in the city are getting "whacked" by the man.