An intelligent romantic comedy with a ‘twisted’ central character…
I would like to dedicate this film review, my first for easternKicks, to all my male friends who believe that romantic comedies are just for girls. Guys, you can grumble all you want, but the truth is that rom-coms can be enjoyed by everyone, as Japanese film Tremble All You Want shows.
This delightful film tells the story of Yoshika (Mayu Matsuoka, Chihayafuru), a young woman in her twenties. Yoshika has always wanted to be with a man whom she calls ‘One’ (Takumi Kitamura, Let Me Eat Your Pancreas), a good-looking guy from her high school whom she fantasises about all the time. However, the truth is that she has not seen ‘One’ since school ended; but at a high school reunion, she finally meets him again.
‘Two’ (Daichi Watanabe, The World of Kanako), on the other hand, is a work colleague who adores Yoshika. He is the first man to ever show a romantic interest in her. Even though she is very attractive, she is rather strange. She has the habit of looking at things out of the side of her eye, rather than straight ahead, which she calls “side sight”; and she is passionate about extinct animals, such as ammonites and nipponites. In the film, ‘One’ describes her as ‘weird’ and ‘Two’ calls her ‘unusual’, while she prefers to use the term ‘twisted’: ‘just like the ammonites’.
When both men enter Yoshika’s world at pretty much the same time, her life becomes truly twisted…
Matsuoka gives a winning performance that brings Yoshika to life and makes the weird and unusual character immensely likeable. She portrays the character’s emotions perfectly and her good looks, with big bright eyes and a beautiful smile, certainly help audience fall in love with her. There is an extended scene where she sings, which is both emotional and memorable because it marks the point when her character finally comes to the realisation that she has been living in a world of fantasy all along. The film has offered Matsuoka her first ever leading role and in demonstrating her versatility as an actress and her ability to handle vastly different emotions, she proves that she has the potential to become a major star.
Amongst the other actors, Daichi Watanabe stands out as the innocent and caring ‘Two’. He and Matsuoka have great chemistry together – they act like a real couple, whether they are having a good time together or screaming at each other. Most of the audience would therefore really want them to be together in the end.
Director Akiko Ooku (Tokyo Serendipity, Fantastic Girls) has written the film’s script based on a novel by Japanese novelist Risa Wataya. It is clever and insightful, and at the same time quirky and whimsical. The film does not just talk about love, but also friendship and the feeling of isolation in a big city like Tokyo, a common theme in Wataya’s writing. Yoshika lives alone and even though she is surrounded by many people, she never makes any meaningful connections with them.
Unlike many other films of this genre, Tremble All You Want is a rom-com that is not only romantic and funny, but also intelligent and well-observed. It is a charming crowd-pleaser that deservedly won the Audience Award at the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival. Following the Festival, it went on to have a long theatrical run over six months in its native Japan. I like it a lot and believe that even if you are not a big fan of romantic comedies, you could be genuinely surprised by the film. While it may not make you tremble with joy, it should have no trouble putting a big smile on your face.