Mistaken identities and twins confuse the lives of two men in this Chinese Japanese co-production…
Yukisasa Isao, director of the popular 2004 Japanese melodrama Crying Out For Love, in the Center of the World returns with Five Minutes to Tomorrow, a Chinese Japanese co-production which shifts the setting of its Honda Takayoshi source novels from Tokyo to Shanghai. The film is Yukisasa’s first in the Chinese language, and features a suitably pan-Asian cast that includes Cecilia Liu (Brotherhood of Blades) in a double lead role, Japanese actor Miura Haruma (Attack on Titan) and Joseph Chang (Eternal Summer) from Taiwan.
Cecilia Liu plays twins Ruo Lan and Ru Mei, two women with very different personalities who were mixed up during a childhood incident, leaving it open to debate which is actually which. The film begins with the shy Ruo Lan still dealing with the aftermath of a traumatic breakup and meeting Ryo, a younger Japanese man working as a watchmaker’s apprentice in Shanghai. Lonely and clearly suffering from emotional issues himself, Ryo hesitantly forms a bond with Ruo Lan, which is thrown into confusion when he meets the feisty Ru Mei, who in turn is in a relationship with a rich film maker called Tian Lun (Joseph Chang).
Five Minutes to Tomorrow is at heart a mix of romance and suspense, Yukisasa Isao clearly aiming for a haunting, ambiguous feel. For the most part he succeeds, and the film does an effective, if frequently obscure job of playing on the expected themes of mistaken identity, jealousy and confusion that usually arise when twins are involved. Although the film does try to dig deeper and explore the sense of self of its characters it never really achieves anything deep or substantial, and does feel rather sketchy and random at times. This isn’t too much of a problem, as it does still engage, though it definitely works better on a narrative rather than emotional level, viewers being better off just going with the flow and allowing Yukisasa to manipulate them along with his poor confused male leads. The pacing isn’t great, with some slow stretches and a fair amount of ponderous meandering, though fans of this kind of slow, meaningful cinema of angst shouldn’t find themselves too put off.
Much of the interest here comes from the film’s cross-cultural status, and without being familiar with Honda Takayoshi’s original novels, the Tokyo Shanghai transplant seems to fit well enough, a few scenes shot in Mauritius giving a further injection of internationality. It’s a very handsome looking film throughout, with some lovely cinematography and dreamy shots of Shanghai that complement the themes nicely while making things easy on the eye. A solid cast also help, Cecilia Liu managing to convince in the tricky dual lead role and adding some enjoyable subtleties and psychological undertones to the more obvious differences between Ruo Lan and Ru Mei – most of the film’s best moments arrive when the two sisters are on screen together. Miura Haruma also comes off well, impressing both through his having learned Mandarin for the part and through a quietly pained performance that makes Ryo far less frustrating a protagonist than he might otherwise have been.
While still most likely to be enjoyed by audiences used to this kind of obtuse, slow moving romantic melodrama, Five Minutes to Tomorrow is one of the better examples of the form of late. Others may find their attention drifting, though Yukisasa Isao has undeniably crafted here an interesting take on Honda Takayoshi’s work, possibly one which may open the door for further Chinese Japanese productions of the type.
