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Review by
Calvin
McMillin: |
To be sure, Yukinari Hanawa's
First Love is a heist film like no other. The
title of the movie itself is perhaps the first hint
that the big robbery is less important than the resolution
of the love plot. Really, when a movie begins with a
teenage girl asking, "What's the time limit on a wounded
heart?" you know you're not in Ocean's 11 territory
anymore. And yet even though budding teenage romance
ends up trumping the thrills of cinematic grand larceny,
the film's heist isn't a throwaway plot device. It's
actually based on a real-life crime famously known in
Japan as "Sanoku-en jiken" ("The 300 Million Yen Affair").
On December 10, 1968, three-hundred
million yen was stolen from bank employees transporting
the money in an unmarked car. The robbery occurred in
only a matter of seconds and not a single person was
hurt. The crime was the biggest heist in Japanese history,
leading to the largest manhunt ever undertaken in the
country. The statute of limitations on prosecuting the
crime has since expired, and even until this day, no
one knows for sure who pulled off this legendary crime. First Love, however, speculates as to the identity
of the real criminal.
Based on Misuzu Nakahara's
autobiography, First Love stars Aoi Miyazaki
(Nana, Su-ki-da) as Misuzu, a quiet, alienated
teenager who seeks out the company of local heartthrob
Ryo (Masaru Miyazaki) and his band of misfit friends.
This tight-knit group spends most of their days hanging
around a jazz bar called "B," and the introspective
Misuzu slowly, although not completely, starts to come
out of her shell. As the film develops, we begin to
understand Misuzku's true connection to Ryo as well
as her reasons for seeking his company. Eventually,
she begins to fall for his friend, Kishi (Keisuke Koide),
who in many ways seems like an anomalous figure in the
group. When tragedy strikes this once-merry band of
friends, Kishi hatches a plot to strike back at the
government with a huge, unprecedented robbery, but he
needs Misuzu's help to see it through to the end. The
two begin practicing for the heist, and through the
multiple rehearsals, they begin to fall even more deeply
in love. Of course, history would suggest that the heist
was a success, but was it really? What happened to these
two alleged accomplices? That is the story that First
Love seeks to trace in its final moments.
First Love is a bit
of an odd duck. The romance is palpable, but it's awkward
and buried just under the surface. It's all about what
isn't said between the two leads, rather than the depiction
of any huge declarations of love or fits of passion
between the main protagonists. In a sense, that makes
the film a variation on the "Pure Love" subgenre, although First Love spools out in a decidedly non-formulaic
manner. In some ways, such restraint is commendable
and it was nice to see a romance shown in a more awkward,
realistic way. But in other ways, that is perhaps the
most frustrating part of the movie. One may end up hoping
for a payoff that the film never quite delivers.
Still, without the benefit
of much dialogue, Aoi Miyazaki turns in another fine
performance as Misuzu, able to convey in facial expressions
what few actors could with pages of dialogue. Standout
scenes include an unconventional, yet entirely welcome
and joyous motorcycle lesson from Kishi's elderly mechanic
friend (Shunji Fujimura, from Death Note) and
her character's last act discovery of a crucial piece
of information involving Kishi. Overall, Koide Kesuke
is fine, but is unremarkable as the object of Misuzu's
affection. It's Miyazaki's real-life brother, Masaru
Miyazaki who turns in the more charismatic performance
as Ryo, the consummate rebel without a cause.
The heist aspect of the film
becomes increasingly important in the film's later portions,
and the rehearsals are definitely fun to watch. Naturally,
they don't come across in the slick, professional manner
that typifies most heist movies, but that's part of
the charm. History says that they'll pull it off, but
somehow, the filmmakers are able to make us doubt even
a foregone conclusion such as that. For a while there,
the depiction of the consequences of the heist came
across as a bit too protracted and narratively frustrating,
but it's eventually resolved (kind of) by the aforementioned
last act discovery. Ultimately, First Love is
part-romance, part-heist movie, and part-snapshot of
an era. It's not exactly an overwhelming success in
any of these three different categories, but somehow,
the parts add up to a fairly satisfying whole. (Calvin McMillin,
2007) |
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