Somebody (2016)

Finding the real story of your life takes more than one minute

WOW ... I started watching this movie out of curiosity, but then descended into despair ... job hunting ... it can really put you through the wringer ... rejection after rejection even though you put your 'best self' out there and when that doesn't work you put your best rendition of what you think the kind of person they are looking for ... and when that doesn't work ... what the hell do you do ヽ(•́ᴥ•̀)ノ ... if you are not backed by money or family supports ... it is your very existence, your survival that is on the line ... in the face of this onslaught of rejection and negative opinion, some people are resilient, some lie through their teeth, others wrap themselves up in a delusional world of their creation ... and so on.

However, this depressing start soon became psychologically fascinating and the way the movie brought that to the screen was very clever ... "real life" turning into a boxed room stage play ... that was a visual profound shift in awareness ... the staged play reflected the true life of Takuto ... his 'real' life just a 'stage play'.

There were some powerful concepts that were repeated during the moving ... words and sentences that were densely loaded and worth time to reflect on.

"Someone" ... when Kotaru said "The job hunt is over, but I don't feel like I have become someone." WOW that is a profound observation ... how do we become 'someone' and what does that even mean ... how do we know when we actually become 'someone' and is the process and end the same for everyone (◑_◑)?

"The masterpieces in our own head ... the ones that we cannot get out of." WOW ... so true ... we have these grand masterpieces of how our life is going to be, how we are going to be 'someone' ... but bridging the gap (or chasm in some cases) between our mental masterpieces and real life, is easier said than done. Takuto himself threw this statement in the face of others more than once and yet he himself remained unaware or ignored the fact that he himself was still living in the masterpiece in his own mind ... the only way he could bridge the gap was to bring everybody else down through his alternative twitter account.

"reeked of desperation" ... yes indeed ... to one degree or another ... desperation for what ... to be someone BUT not just society's expectation of what that 'someone' should be, but rather to 'find the story of your own life' ... only to be told "Please express who you are in one minute." .... like what the photon ... one minute ... "I can't do this in one minute." Finally, Takuto became 'real' ... that brought tears to my eyes (༼☯﹏☯)༽ ... and then I thought well done Takuto, well done ◝(ᵔ‿ᵔ)◜

For me this movie was brilliant ... profound ... heartbreaking and yet potentially transformative as well ... applicable not just to the job hunting stages of life ... but life in general regardless of what stage we are at ... why ... because we all get out of the masterpieces of our own head at different times ... and some never escape it. The way they all brought these deep concepts to the screen in an hour and a half was very impressive indeed.

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Please tell us something about yourself in 1 minute.

A frustrating watch to be honest. Not because of the movie itself. More so the themes behind the movie are so true and harsh.

The theme of this movie seems to be about how we are just expected to be someone as soon as we enter the job market in society. In Japan, it is a big deal to land a good job and if you do it must be with a company. Those jobs pretty much mean you are there for life. It's generally looked down upon taking up jobs that aren't with giant companies and leaving such jobs is also a very big faux pas. Therefor work culture in Japan can sometimes be toxic and leave many people in disarray during the job hunt.

We come across 5 individuals all looking for that release. When they will find the job that will make them a productive member of society. Each one has a goal in mind to find the job but they are extremely reluctant to do so. Many of them end up having to compromise in order not to feel failure. Failure is a large component of this movie. In fact the main Protagonist Takuto somewhat revels in it. And this is where the movie becomes extremely frustrating.

Takuto is always analyzing his peers and making his judgements on their decisions. His character is majorly flawed in that he has totally been crushed by the world and doesn't take responsibility for his own downfalls. This creates a large vacuum of despair within himself. It's as if his self loathing is projected onto his friends. We learn at the end about what he's really been thinking the entire movie and it's awful. As someone who has had issues in the past comparing themselves to others, I can understand where he's coming from. We attack because we lack awareness of our own vulnerabilities. It's one of the reasons it's hard to watch this for me. We know he knows that he isn't amounting to anything but he can't express it himself anymore.
A largely trapped feeling that dwells on past stories.

The other characters are parallels of this journey. Mizuki who has to grow up in order to protect her parents who she feels she owes. Kotaro the drive less musician who has to move on in order to survive. Despite this he continues to head toward a goal that seems almost implausible. Rica who wants to do good in the world and does everything she can to make herself heard. And finally Takayoshi who has already decided that the world is beneath him and he doesn't want to live in such a world that breaks someone's individuality. All of these characters represent many repressed feelings of youth who are growing up in such a society that values you more as a number then a person. The main cast all present themselves in a way that represents a role in Takuto's mind play. People who hide their insecurities and sadness behind walls. They are all equally disgraceful in his eyes. But we watch on as entertainment. So then the question the movie asks is how can we be so blind to these feelings?

Visually the film is well shot and there's some really good tight shots and the stage play shots are really inventive. A lot of the film focuses on subtle little cues. Like the shuffling of a phone or the eyes of Takuto making his analysis of his friends.Body language is also very telling in this story. There's a major difference in how let's say Kotaro, Takayoshi and Takuto present themselves. Takeru Satoh has this innate ability to portray a devilish quality behind his acting. It's kinda like that swarmy evil underbelly of someone . In this movie it makes him pretty unlikable as a character. Kasumi once again steals the show with her distant emotional breaks. I think she had the best scenes in the movie.

I would say this movie is ok to watch when you just maybe feel a little sad. It's mood is definitely subdued with it's warm intense lighting. It uses a lot of techniques that stage plays use I thought. So it has a lot of spotlights and colored lighting to convey tones.

Finally the film expresses the one true thing we all know. Twitter is a dumpster fire.

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