The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1983) [Film Review]

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time: or, Lavender Day
     The fruit of love is at the bottom of the sea. The sky's sigh has turned into stars. It takes millions of years for people to meet.
It’s Obayashi time on this blog again. I finally manage to sit down and revisit four films of the late master, which were recently released in a limited boxset by Third Window Films. Allow me to start my revisitation with Toki o Kakeru Shōjo, or, using the English title, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time from 1983 with Tomoyo Harada in the leading role.

Release Info

Directed by: Nobuhiko Obayashi Starring: Tomoyo Harada, Toshinori Omi, Ryoichi Takayanagi

Language: Japanese Original Title: 時をかける少女 Runtime: 104 min

Synopsis
Meet Kazuko Yoshiyama (Tomoyo Harada). She is an ordinary girl and an average student at a local high school. She is a good friend of Goro Horikawa (Toshinori Omi), whom she has known since childhood, and also of Kazuo Fukamachi (Ryoichi Takayanagi). After a sudden accident while cleaning the science lab, Kazuko discovers that she has the power to travel in time. Little does know that her extraordinary ability is linked to the boy she falls for, Fukamachi.

If I Could Turn Back Time
Let me say right off the bat that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is often unfairly labelled among Western viewers as Obayashi’s take on the Groundhog Day (1993) formula. In my opinion, this is more of a consequence of Yasutaka Tsutsui’s original novel's premise rather than of misinterpretation of the movie adaptation. Indeed, many Obayashi’s films made in the 1980s were based on some kind of external source material, be it a book or a manga series, but regardless of the story constraints, the auteur director always managed to leave his personal imprint on the subject matter, and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is no exception from this.

To be specific, rather than reliving the same day over and over again, Kazuko finds herself unwittingly jumping between various points of her life. She literally “cuts through time” as the alternative English title suggests. Personally, I regard this approach as quite refreshing because Obayashi does not make “time travel” as the main MacGuffin or the axis that drives the action forward. Kazuko’s ability serves as the lead-in for discovering her love for Fukamachi. Therefore, the movie is first and foremost a teenage romantic drama suffused with sentimentality and otherworldly strangeness (keep an eye out for The Wizard of Oz easter eggs in the film).

If I were to choose another Obayashi film that is stylistically similar to The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, it would have to be The Visitor in the Eye (1977) because the cinematography as well as the thoughtful usage of music goes hand in hand in both pictures. However, in the case of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, Obayashi manages to employ his full on visual bizarness in the final act. The stop-motion spectacle as Kazuko travels through time and space is a true invasion of the spectator’s senses, in a positive way of course.

With regard to performances, if I am not mistaken, this is the first instance when Obayashi collaborated with the idol actress Tomoyo Harada (She went on to appear later in The Island Closest to Heaven, Kenya Boy, and Samurai Kids). In my opinion, out of all her appearances in Obayashi’s films, Harada gives her best performance in The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. She gives off the vibe of an innocent girl with pure intentions who is not too egotistical or absent-minded. I have to say that she had a great onscreen chemistry with Obayashi’s regular, Toshinori Omi.

The same, unfortunately, cannot be said fot Ryoichi Takayanagi who plays the main love interest. His delivery of lines is wooden and off-putting to say the least. Still, it did not discourage Kadokawa from utilising the young actor in Obayashi’s other productions cooked up for the studio. In terms of supporting parts, it is great to see Ittoku Kishibe and Wakaba Irie.

Recommendations
If you are looking for a peaceful and unpredictable coming-of-age drama, then I recommend The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. The Third Window limited release of the film comes with such bonus features as an archival interview with Nobuhiko Obayashi, a featurette devoted to Tomoyo Harada, a music video, and an original theatrical trailer. Out of the many adaptations of the original novel, this is the best one.
Overall score: 8/10

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