A Song I Remember (2011) [Film Review]

A Song I Remember; or, Polaroid Memories
     Why do you take photos, Tsuyoshi? I like your pictures.
Recently, I have noticed via Twitter announcement that organisation La Cinémathèque Française has made Kiyoshi Sugita’s A Song I Remember available to watch online legally and for free with English and French subtitles. Needless to say, I took the opportunity and viewed the movie I have heard absolutely nothing about. Here are my thoughts on it.

Release Info

Directed by: Kiyoshi Sugita Starring: Takenori Kaneko, Yuri Ishizaka, Koichi Masuno

Language: Japanese Original Title: ひとつの歌 Runtime: 98 min

Synopsis
Tsuyoshi (Takenori Kaneko) passes through the streets of Tokyo, trying to capture an interesting moment on his Polaroid camera. He decides to take a photo of a woman waiting at a train station. A few moments later, the woman dies tragically in an accident. While searching for Polaroid accessories, Tsuyoshi befriends Kiriko (Yuri Ishizaka) who runs a local camera shop. It turns out that Kiriko is a daughter of the woman Tsuyoshi encountered at a train station…

A Chance Encounter
Before checking out A Song I Remember, you need to know that this is indie filmmaking at its purest. There is absolutely zero pacing. Scenes keep on going and it is up to the viewers to draw proper conclusions. In addition, we mainly get either establishing or tracking shots while following the main protagonist through his daily activities. Nevertheless, all of this works to the film’s advantage.

When you are in the right mindset, you will definitely enjoy the peacefulness of the movie. It is not just about storytelling, but about characters within settings. It is quite interesting that the director chose to film A Song I Remember in 4:3 aspect ratio because, in my opinion, this only gives it an additional charm. It is a pleasure to see Tsuyoshi and Kiriko on real Tokyo streets, within real suburbs, etc. Consequently, the world of the film is not imagined but very much tangible.

Although the movie lasts a little over 90 minutes, the viewing experience itself is much faster. The story in itself is fairly simple, and the theme of a Polaroid camera catching fleeting, and seemingly trivial, moments of our lives is indeed intriguing. Performances of the main leads, Takenori Kaneko and Yuri Ishizaka, cannot go unnoticed as well.

Recommendations
All in all, I wish I could have A Song I Remember on either DVD or Blu-Ray, so I could use it as a demo disc on my TV set. The cinematography in this film is just so darn beautiful. Sequences of real Tokyo during the hustle and bustle period are something to be cherished and played on repeat. The movie can be checked out on Henri platform until the 8th of February, 2022.
Overall score: 7/10

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