ハルフウェイ。。
Alright I've finally seen Halfway. It's the directorial debut of Eriko Kitagawa (who was screenwriter for some very highly rated romance dramas such as Long Vacation, Beautiful Life and Orange Days), and was written by both herself and Shunji Iwai.
Here's a short synopsis (taken from asianmediawiki):
"A young couple start dating, but their happy days are interrupted by a single fact: she is planning to apply for a local university but he is not. The girl pleads with her boyfriend not to go away and he starts to think over the priorities in his life."
Okay the plot seems simple and straightforward enough. It's rather slow and focuses a lot on the dialogue and interaction between the characters (I have a feeling they ad-lib a lot in this movie). But it's never boring because there are enough cute and quirky moments. The kokuhaku (confession) scene is possibly the funniest love confession ever (even funnier than YUI's "Suki na banana wa tabemono desuka?" "Is your favourite banana a food?" in Taiyou no uta xD)..
For me it was well worth the wait because I liked it very much and it was probably the most "beautiful" movie I've seen all year..
..And by beautiful I'm not talking about the story, which isn't bad at all, but the actors and cinematography. Eriko Kitagawa must have taken a lot of tips from Shunji Iwai because it definitely had the look and feel of Iwai's (less angst-y) movies.. which is stunning (and sort of dream-like)! I just couldn't stop looking. Well a few screenshots should speak louder than words..
The main actors..
The girl
Who I think is slightly mad.. but she's totally adorable and hilarious! xD
The guy
He's having a productive year, with about 4 movies (mostly romance?) in 2009. Boku no hatsukoi wo kimi ni sasagu (with Inoue Mao) and Honokaa Boy look interesting.
Best friend #1 ♥
Had a disappointingly short air-time. I was looking forward to seeing her the most :(
Best friend #2
I dunno.. I think he and "The Girl" would make a great couple.
The awesome cast of teachers
Who are more than qualified to have their own spin-off renai eiga if they wanted to^^
Random screenshots..
( Short trailer )
Random clip..
In this clip Naka Riisa meets Salyu (who sings in the Halfway soundtrack). Riisa's so funny and adorkable here..
She's like, "I was in Halfway. I was Meme-chan." ~nervous~
Salyu, "Really? So you were the friend? No way!"
Riisa, "That's right! Aaaaaaaaa!!"
"Can I order? Sumimasen-nu!"
rolf xD I really wanna see the rest of the show.
Oh yeah, back to the movie. It's awesome..
To make long entry short: It's light, simple, a bit slow, a bit funny, a bit quirky, cute, sweet, good cast, very pleasant to the eyes. Watch it (if you like this type of movie).
Here's a short synopsis (taken from asianmediawiki):
"A young couple start dating, but their happy days are interrupted by a single fact: she is planning to apply for a local university but he is not. The girl pleads with her boyfriend not to go away and he starts to think over the priorities in his life."
Okay the plot seems simple and straightforward enough. It's rather slow and focuses a lot on the dialogue and interaction between the characters (I have a feeling they ad-lib a lot in this movie). But it's never boring because there are enough cute and quirky moments. The kokuhaku (confession) scene is possibly the funniest love confession ever (even funnier than YUI's "Suki na banana wa tabemono desuka?" "Is your favourite banana a food?" in Taiyou no uta xD)..
For me it was well worth the wait because I liked it very much and it was probably the most "beautiful" movie I've seen all year..
..And by beautiful I'm not talking about the story, which isn't bad at all, but the actors and cinematography. Eriko Kitagawa must have taken a lot of tips from Shunji Iwai because it definitely had the look and feel of Iwai's (less angst-y) movies.. which is stunning (and sort of dream-like)! I just couldn't stop looking. Well a few screenshots should speak louder than words..
The main actors..
The girl
Who I think is slightly mad.. but she's totally adorable and hilarious! xD
The guy
He's having a productive year, with about 4 movies (mostly romance?) in 2009. Boku no hatsukoi wo kimi ni sasagu (with Inoue Mao) and Honokaa Boy look interesting.
Best friend #1 ♥
Had a disappointingly short air-time. I was looking forward to seeing her the most :(
Best friend #2
I dunno.. I think he and "The Girl" would make a great couple.
The awesome cast of teachers
Who are more than qualified to have their own spin-off renai eiga if they wanted to^^
Random screenshots..
( Short trailer )
Random clip..
In this clip Naka Riisa meets Salyu (who sings in the Halfway soundtrack). Riisa's so funny and adorkable here..
Click to viewShe's like, "I was in Halfway. I was Meme-chan." ~nervous~
Salyu, "Really? So you were the friend? No way!"
Riisa, "That's right! Aaaaaaaaa!!"
"Can I order? Sumimasen-nu!"
rolf xD I really wanna see the rest of the show.
Oh yeah, back to the movie. It's awesome..
To make long entry short: It's light, simple, a bit slow, a bit funny, a bit quirky, cute, sweet, good cast, very pleasant to the eyes. Watch it (if you like this type of movie).