Rainbow Song (Niji no Megami)

Maltings cinema
Saturday 22 18.30

Japan, 2006, 117 min
Colour, 35mm
Japanese, with English subtitles
Sugg. cert. 12

dir/editor: Naoto Kumazawa
scr: Ami Sakurai, Miyuki Saito,
San Amino
prod: Shunji Iwai,Toshihiro Kitta dop: Shinichi Tsunoda, Masayuki Fujii music: Hiroaki Yamashita
cast: Hayato Ichihara, Juri Ueno, Yu Aoi

production company: Amuse Soft Entertainment Inc.
international sales: Fortissimo Films

Director’s profile:
Naoto Kumazawa was born in Aichi (Japan) in 1967, and started to direct independent films as a student. He worked mainly on documentaries and music videos until directing his first commercial feature, Tokyo Noir, released in 2004. His next film, Letters from Kanai Nirai (2005), garnered praise both in and outside of Japan. His latest film, Vanished (2006), stars Ken Miyake from V6, one of the leading pop groups in Asia.

Director’s filmography:
2006 Rainbow Song
2006 Vanished
2005 Letters from Kanai Nirai
2004 Tokyo Noir

Tomoyo is a somewhat bungling runner working on pop videos and television programmes. The news of his college friend Aoi’s death in a California plane crash spurs him to look back on their friendship. As Aoi’s family travel to the USA to claim her remains, a series of flashbacks bring her character to life, revealing her quiet sensitivity, her unshakeable love for Tomoyo – and his immaturity.

A substantial part of the story unfolds on the set of The End of the World, the film Aoi is shooting at college and for which she has enlisted Tomoyo’s help. The shoot cements the dynamics of their relationship: while Aoi’s determination enables her to achieve her goals, he stumbles along without ever taking in the larger picture. As they approach adulthood, their paths diverge further, yet Aoi’s feelings for Tomoyo endure. This loss – the loss of a love Tomoyo never recognised, but also the end of their teenage world – imbues Rainbow Song with a poignant melancholy.

Produced by Shunji Iwai, whose own films as a director have provided consistently intelligent and sensitive portrayals of Japanese youth, this is a romantic movie that tackles some hefty topics – love, death, the elusive nature of happiness and the mark we leave on the world – with a welcome sensitivity and surprising lightness of touch, but leaves ample space for humour, too.