Sunday, May 6, 2012

NIPPON CONNECTION ’12 REVIEW: Come as You Are


ソーローなんてくだらない (Sôrô nante kudaranai)

Released: 2011


Director: Kôta Yoshida

Starring: 
Tateto Serizawa
Nagisa Umeno
Saya Yasuda


Running time: 102 min.



Reviewed by Marc Saint-Cyr

The setup for Kôta Yoshida’s latest film sounds like it wouldn’t at all be out of place in one of Judd Apatow’s projects: a young slacker named Haruo (Tateto Serizawa) who is stuck in his job as a video store supervisor faces an embarrassing problem that impedes his ability to form proper romantic relationships: premature ejaculation. After Momose, an alluring new employee, arrives at his store, he decides to actively attempt to cure himself. However, this task is not that easy to pull off in his apartment, where his roommate Noriko (Nagisa Umeno), limited living space and thin walls eliminate any privacy he hopes to achieve. When the website he consults instructs him to find a partner to help him, Haruo comes up with a bold proposition: in return for chipping in more money for rent and keeping the place clean, he wants Noriko to assist him in his goal to endure sexual activity for fifteen minutes. After much pleading and sucking up, she agrees to do him this very personal favor.
            
“Come As You Are” certainly contains the sex comedy ingredients one would expect from that description (not to mention the cheeky English title). Multiple scenes show, through careful camera positions and blocking, Haruo desperately testing his endurance with several masturbation sessions and engaging in intimate encounters that end in awkwardness and failure. At one point, the poor guy can’t even keep himself from cursing and yelling at his own malfunctioning member. But rather than simply fishing for laughs to be had at his characters’ expense, Yoshida ensures that the latter – particularly Haruo and Noriko – are properly developed and given personalities that extend far beyond the comic situations. In doing so, both Yoshida and his talented actors are to be commended. Serizawa’s portrayal of Haruo is especially impressive for how he constantly uses body language and facial expressions to reflect his character’s bound-up insecurities and tormented yearning. The sad attempts at feigning indifference, the all-too-brief flashes of confidence, the brutally frank confessions and humiliations – they all give real weight to Haruo’s plight and make him intensely sympathetic. Opposite him, Umeno’s Noriko acts as the more practical and mature one who keeps herself focused on her own priorities, which include a crucial school exam. Her thrice-daily “help” sessions with Haruo are dutifully carried out with an old sock of his (eventually replaced by gloves) and are aurally portrayed by way of some wonderfully detailed sound effects.

            
Perhaps predictably, the unique arrangement between Haruo and Noriko eventually reveals the genuine feelings they have for one another. But don’t be fooled – this is not a simple, meet-cute romantic comedy. Instead, the film remains focused on the problems that plague and, in fact, define Haruo’s personal life. Having worked at the video store and lived in the same apartment for eight years, he prefers to tell people he is pursuing acting jobs on the side when in fact he has clearly abandoned that dream. Directionless and lazy, the only real control he seems able to exercise is over the shift schedule at work, which he mostly uses so he can attempt to woo Momose. Yet through Noriko and others, he steadily realizes just how sad and self-destructive his current lifestyle has become. After a certain point, one wonders if his performance problem is in fact the latest warning sign that he needs to make some serious changes for his own good.
            
Kôta Yoshida is probably best known for his 2010 film “Yuriko’s Aroma,” another refreshingly honest and insightful work about people’s sex lives and the complications within them that can spawn alienation. This is an area he has proven himself to be quite talented in, as he clearly understands that, unlike so many other films that take such matters for granted, human sexuality is a strange and complex thing that everyone experiences differently. Yoshida has openly demonstrated his sympathies for the less confident underdogs of the world, in the process exploring the more sensitive issues that can lie in waiting when affections and simple human urges are involved. His characters not only search for personal acceptance and fulfillment, but also a way they can achieve that ever-elusive thing called happiness without getting trampled upon by the so-called social norms they are so often challenged by. Indeed, Yoshida’s films seem to leave us with an important question: is there such a thing as being “normal?” If Yoshida suggests that the answer is no, then he also makes it clear that that is not such a bad thing.

18 comments:

susan leetexas said...

really nice blog but you should also know about dog breed films at the blog .

thank you

Unknown said...

A the voice more than, the artwork, the satisfied hipster pop soundtrack are all spot on Google. In the meantime, French internet developer, Francois wholesale 5x office 2010 professional plus product key Beaufort, observed a Chrome flag for Google Now in the newest variation of Chromium ?a a edition of Google?

Windows7mart said...

A lot more substantially, iPad users are usually not just undertaking exciting stuff windows 7 professional retail that tablets are believed to be developed for, they are carrying windows 7 home basic product key out anything they utilized to do with all the forgotten Windows laptop back at household.

Windows7mart said...

I've seen mentioned at a number of sites will be the thought that Microsoft is somehow cheating to attempt and make Windows 8 appear much better. (See: Windows 8: The disastrous result of Microsoft?ˉs gutless equivocation.) This betrays a fundamental windows 7 ultimate activation key lack of understanding for the problem. The truth that the system clock is losing time swiftly is proof that this isn?ˉt intentional.

Unknown said...

I was working and suddenly I visits your site frequently and recommended it to me to read also. The writing style is superior and the content is relevant. Thanks for the insight you provide the readers!
Signature:
Jugar juegos de frozen en línea gratis, los nuevos de princesa de Disney juegos frozen - la princesa encantadora y linda. Divertirse frozen!

Unknown said...

This is also a very good post which I really enjoyed reading. It is not everyday that I have the possibility to see something
Signature:
download free descargar whatsapp and download baixar whatsapp online and descargar whatsapp gratis , baixar whatsapp gratis

Unknown said...

Great post,Thanks for providing us this great knowledge,Keep it up.
kids games online
friv 2
unblockedgames
un show mas

kabir said...

Baner Escorts
Baner Independent Escorts
Baner call Girls

kabir said...

Baner Escorts
Baner Independent Escorts
Baner call Girls

Monnika Jacob said...

If you are able to see this movie then congrats you are lucky because it's still blocked in some countries. Buy Essay Online UK

Escorts Pune said...

Kharadi call girl
Magarpatta Escorts
Wakad call girl
Baner Escorts
Ravet call girl
Koregaon Park escorts
Kalyani Nagar escorts
Lonavala escorts

Sonam Sharma said...

If You Think How do I find and book Munrika Escorts?
Looking for Munirka Escorts? We offer You the easiest way to get in contact with private escorts from Delhi. our Agency to find the most stunning independent Escorts in Munirka. All our Escorts in Munirka are verified and genuine, so you know what you will be getting.
Munrika Escorts
Call Girls in Munirka

Delhi Escorts said...

Hi men Nice post. It is really interesting I’m Pooja Sharma, Unbiased Mayur Vihar Escorts, come from Jammu, 21 yrs aged a sweet and classy higher education girl who comes to the Delhi for offering stimulating companionship for genuine gentlemen by having an open up-minded a... 💃

Lillian J. Turner said...

Nice Blog. Thanks for sharing with us. Such amazing information.

MyBlogger Club

Guest Posting Site

Best Guest Blogging Site

Guest Blogger

Guest Blogging Site

onlyblog said...

Nice Blog. Thanks for sharing with us. Such amazing information.

Challenges confronted by online gaming developers

truetoto365 said...

바카라사이트
바카라


Everything is very open with a precise explanation of the issues.
It was really informative. Your website is useful. Thank
you for sharing!

truetoto365 said...

토토사이트
토토


Greetings! Very useful advice within this
article! It’s the little changes that make the greatest changes.
Thanks a lot for sharing!

Unkonwn said...

اذا اردت الحصول علي ماكينات تعبئة سكر الفنادق ف تقوم ماسترتك بصناعة ماكينات تعبئة السكر اوتوماتيك من الفولاذ المتين والاستانلس ستيل المقاوم للصدا مصنعه بدقة داخل مصانع ماسترتك تحت اشراف نخبة من متخصصين صناعة مكن التعبئة والتغليف