Discussed further in Episode 5 of the podcast I am in Digitized Desperadoes. Heres a link: https://www..com/watch?v=BWmf9zO83y8 Its an art film about a 27year old stuck on her past as a 10year old finding her way in life. It hits a lot of beats typical of these kinds of stories with a feeling of spiritualism and meandering while culminating at an emotional head where she finally chooses the better life. This turns out to be problematic in execution. There are two halves of this movie the older Taeko and the child Taeko. The film is told as older reminiscing about younger but it feels off. We see very little of older Taekos life beyond her working at the farm and we exclusively see a specific age of the younger 5th grade 10 years old. This is both unrealistic and harmful as some of the young segments end up feeling pointless or strange even if they are meant to be wandering memories. It is beautiful no doubt. The motion and facial expression for 1991 is impressive and charming and the waterpainted backdrops are breathtaking. The music is mostly borrowed from Eastern European folk songs which is odd but it works well in context. I cant help but feel a level of disappointment that so much time is spent on her memories rather than her current life. I felt a disconnect that the people were so thoroughly divorced from each other. There was absolutely nothing shown in those 17 years that rationalize or help the audience understand how she has gone from her traditional family life her troubles with school and her stubborn personality to the mature self in the future. We see no dissatisfaction with city life we exclusively hear the older self saying basic things like I feel at home in the country. I guess when the younger wanted to go on vacation she just wanted to go the country? Which is symbolic I guess? But its mentioned once and never again. Overall most of the younger segments feel unnecessary and I much prefer the older segments. The best example of this is that at the end credits theres a beautiful montage of her reconsidering her life in the train with her young self and friends watching in the back of her mind but physically present. Its beautiful a perfect representation of growing up and moving on. But its only once. It shouldve been the entire film. Rather than constantly cut to jarring and unfitting flashbacks why not make the distances between the two eras even closer? Why not make the whole film literally drift between past and present? It feels like a waste. I think I get the film. I get the theme I get some of the functions as both a period piece and a sort of older comingofage but I dont like it and I feel like its not executed as well as it could be. 6/10.