Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on December 2011

Last year the indie film Kantai (Hospitalite) garnered the Japan Eyes prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival and generally received critical support, though it hardly did any business at the box office. Directed by Koji Fukada of Tokyo’s Seinendan Theater Company, my review pointed out that it was hard not to view the film as directly racist, which spoiled the experience for me. Mitsuko Kankaku is made by another Seinendan Theater Company director, Kenji Yamauchi, and is based around similar themes. Right away this does not put me in a generous mood. Having said that this work, which screened at the Warsaw International Film fest, has its positive points. The acting is strong and the plot interesting enough to hold one’s attention. Emi (Kei Ishibashi) and Mitsuko (Eriko Hatsune) are sisters living together in Tokyo. There is tragedy in their background as their father left them when they were young and this caused their mother to commit suicide. The arrival of a mysterious character and a woman claiming to be his sister sends their lives into a tailspin. Like Kantai we have a trickster playing havoc with the lives of “normal” people. It suffers from the melodrama malady that affects so many Japanese films—but it’s watchable. (English title: Being Mitsuko; 106 min)