Mitsuko Delivers

MITSUKO DELIVERS (MOVIE)
Third Window Films

Release date: May 11th, 2012
Certificate (UK): TBC
Running time: 109 minutes

Country of origin: Japan
Original language: Japanese with English subtitles

Writer and director: Yuya Ishii

Cast: Riisa Naka, Aoi Nakamura, Ryo Ishibashi, Keiko Saito

Yuya Ishii, the filmmaker who brought us Sawako Decides, creates another inspiring story about overcoming personal hardship. With Mitsuko Delivers, he also explores themes of perseverance and endurance – otherwise known as Gaman – that the Japanese have shown the rest of the world not only in the aftermath of World War II and the 1995 Kobe earthquake, but also in the wake of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.

We meet Mitsuko (Riisa Naka) who really has a lot on her plate. After living in California for while with her American boyfriend, she returns to Tokyo, alone and nine-months pregnant. Her parents are blissfully ignorant to her situation and Mitsuko keeps it that way by making brief phone calls, pretending to still be in the U.S.

Yet Mitsuko is broke and lonely and is soon forced to move out of her apartment, but she remains admirably strong and assertive, never failing to carry out random acts of kindness to the people she comes across. Her only true friend nevertheless seems to be a lone cloud she has noticed floating above her.

After losing her apartment, Mitsuko gets into a taxi cab and tells the surprised driver to follow the wind-blown cloud, only to end up in the run-down alley where she was brought up. The place has not gotten any better since she left; an economic down-turn is making life particularly difficult for this community. Despite these problems, Mitsuko’s arrival starts shaking things up immediately and the depressed and hopeless people are inspired by her raw strength and determination.

Yuya Ishii’s follow-up to Sawako Decides is just as touching, funny and heart-warming as its predecessor, but with Mitsuko Delivers he also excels in the domain of directorial ambition. Mitsuko’s relationship with a lone cloud is written beautifully and photographed in a stunning way.

The idea that we are all are lone clouds randomly drifting where the wind blows might be somewhat scary to a very young Mitsuko in the beginning, but it’s really inspiring to see her learning to accept this fact of life and then rigorously taking control. She is truly the embodiment of the Japanese term Gaman that symbolises the ability to patiently endure difficulties and hardship; a widely respected human quality on the land of the rising sun.

Mitsuko’s attitude proves to be contagious and begins to spread amongst the broken spirit of this little community.

Hope isn’t just some romantically vague idea in Mitsuko Delivers; it is a direct result of a relentlessly determined attitude and even defiant hostility towards hardship. When one member (Keiko Saito) of the community has to go to Fukushima to take care of her sick mother, the others join her without hesitation. They all go to Fukushima, where help is needed.

Nobody follows the lone cloud when dealing with a crisis – it is the lone cloud that follows them. Mitsuko Delivers is a wonderfully moving and delightfully funny comedy with superb performances that conveys its ideas in a very down-to-earth manner without ever turning preachy on its audience. It inspires and encourages a hopeful look to the future, after all, Mitsuko has life in her belly and life is good.

Arpad Lukacs

Arpad is a Film Studies graduate and passionate photographer (he picked up the camera and started taking stills just as he began his studies of moving pictures). He admires directors that can tell a story first of all in images. More or less inevitably, Brian De Palma has become Aprad’s favourite filmmaker.

Then there’s Arpad’s interest in anime. He was just a boy when he saw Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind on an old VHS and was hypnotised by the story of friendship, devotion and sacrifice. He still marvels at the uncompromising and courageous storytelling in Japanese anime, and wonders about the western audience with its ever growing appetite for “Japanemation”.

Have a look at Arpad's photography site, and you can follow him on Twitter @arpadlukacs.

Cinema Reviews

WRITE FOR STATIC MASS!

If you are passionate not only about watching movies but also about writing, we would love to hear from you!

Please get in touch and let us know whether you have a favorite genre, an interest for example in World Cinema, and how often you could write reviews and/or features for us.

You can as well send us your features and reviews right away. We look forward to receiving articles between 700 and 1,500 words, submitted as a Word document.

You can find more information here.

Please also read our Terms & Conditions.

— Founder & Editor in Chief —
Patrick Samuel

— Editor in Chief & Webmaster —
Jonahh Oestreich

— Editors —
Ben Nicholson • Frances Taylor
Jamie Suckley • Phil Blankley

— Lead US Correspondent —
Rohan Mohmand

— Authors & Correspondents —
Alison Devlin • Arpad Lukacs
Barbara Diril • Darwin Franks
Dominic Walker • Jack Murphy
John Bleasdale • Lauren Mannion
Paul Bullock • Toby C Prior
Tyson James Yates • V.Venkateshwaran

— Guest Writers —
Diandra Lazor • Lito Velasco
Mark Patton • Pedram F Dahl
Rohit K Dasgupta

FOLLOW US & STAY IN TOUCH!

Static Mass Emporium is a UK-based independent film journal which looks at a broad range of work from the industry.

With research grounded in modern cinema, film theory, sociology, history and filmosophy, our approach is to explore the essence of film.

We are a nonprofit publication free of advertising — sustained entirely by its readers, fans and supporters. Read more about us here.