A seemingly innocent love story with a twist that will change everything…
Have you ever been broken by a twist ending? A finale that leads to endless hours of web surfing to find that one forum where someone has the decency to explain what it meant? An ending that makes you question everything you ever knew about your very existence?
Maybe I’m exaggerating a little now, but I have never encountered a more confusing film conclusion in my entire life. Twist endings from other films I have been able to handle, accept and make sense of. Initiation Love left me in shock perhaps because the film is, of all genres, a romantic drama set in the 80s.
The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme has a new theme for 2018: (Un)true Colours: Secrets and Lies in Japanese Cinema. Initiation Love, therefore, qualifies heavily as its prize marketing ploy is a surprise ending that even ardent film lovers will not see coming. So shocking is this ending that the film even begins with a disclaimer warning viewers of it and to respectfully refrain from revealing the spoiler to future audiences. It’s an odd choice to reveal this secret just as the film is released but has made for genius marketing, it was the one thing that baited my curiosity. But aside from the momentous ending, the plot in itself explores the secrets we keep from the people we love.
Initiation Love (based on the novel of the same name) is set in 1980s Japan, it follows Suzuki played by Shota Matsuda (Liar Game: Reborn, Boys over Flowers: Final, Liar Game), an overweight and bumbling university student who falls for cute dental hygienist Mayu played by Atsuko Maeda (Kabukicho Love Hotel, Dynamite Graffiti, Majisuka Gakuen). Despite the case of opposites attract the two embark on a loving relationship. Time passes and Suzuki is seen to accept a job in Tokyo, the two agree to try a long distance relationship but this creates difficulties and they begin to grow apart. Suzuki even develops feelings for his female colleague Miyako played by Fumino Kimura (Piece of Cake, Have a song on Your Lips). What will become of the lovers and what exactly is the big twist audiences are meant to be looking out for?
Initiation Love is definitely worth watching not just for the twist ending but for being a warm, funny and somewhat poignant film about love and relationships. It has a lot of laughs thanks in particular to Matsuda and Maeda who give great performances, the rest of the cast are no exception.
The film seems to have two sides to it much like the two sides of a cassette that Suzuki plays in his car at the beginning of the film (cassettes, the 80s, get it?). Side A is the warm and fuzzy part of the film where we see the beginning of Suzuki and Mayu’s relationship in its carefree and idyllic setting. The acting and expressions can be quite over the top and the sugary sweet tone is emphasised where Suzuki sees literal flowers framing Mayu when he first lays eyes on her. It is almost filmed like a live-action shojo romance manga but works because of the comedy and bright cinematography.
Side B, however, seems like a different film altogether and shifts dramatically in tone and mood, after Suzuki moves away from the relationship slowly strains due to the distance. More importantly and alluding to the film’s title, Suzuki finds himself emotionally changed, he has matured from the socially hopeless stooge we loved at the beginning. You cringe at his now heartless attitude towards Mayu and gasp at his attraction to his more mature colleague Miyako. It’s a shift in character that Miyako actually comments on, stating that your first relationship is an ‘initiation love’ where you learn about loving someone but on a childish level. Once you grow up however you have a changed outlook on relationships, where your first relationship was merely an initiation or trial.
You’d think this is the message of the film, a harsh but realistic look at the difficulties of relationships when you feel you have grown beyond your partner and “passed” your initiation stage. It’s an interesting concept, though by the time you reach the “twist” ending the film is turned upside down. In keeping my promise to the director I will refrain from spoiling this twist ending and let you experience it for yourself. You can decide whether you learnt a valuable life lesson or you just got punk’d.
The film is artfully directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi with the contrasting cinematography in both halves of the film. The pace is even and never bores you, whilst we have a fantastic soundtrack that perfectly matches the stages of our protagonist’s love story. Matsuda shows excellent acting skills transforming Suzuki from a lovable hero to a cold man unsure of his feelings. Maeda is able to express childlike innocence as our unassuming heroine and although it can verge on stereotypical “Kawaii” Japanese girl at first, her transformation later in the film shows intense vulnerability and attests to her acting prowess.
Despite the ending flooring you, it is a thoroughly enjoyable film full of charm, laughs and sentimentality. But I’ll leave that up to you once you see that ending…