Shindô (2007)

Shindô: Directed by Kôji Hagiuda. With Riko Narumi, Ken’ichi Matsuyama, Satomi Tezuka, Masahiro Kômoto. Naruse Uta (Narumi Riko) is a “unique” 13 year old child. She possessed the talent to read sheet music even before she could speak, but has now come to the point where she hates playing the piano. Her father was also a piano virtuoso, but mysteriously disappeared from her life at a young age. Because of her father’s disappearance Uta’s mother had to move out of their posh home and into afar modest working class neighborhood. In this working class neighborhood there is a local grocer. The grocer’s son Kikuna Oto (Matsuyama Kenichi) happens to be a budding musician, but lacks the drive to truly succeed. That is until Uta Naruse comes into his life .

“The youth focus of Koji Hagiudau0026#39;s SHINDO (WONDER CHILD) is on that certain age, around 13 years old, where young people first start to gain a sense of who they are, where they come from, and who they eventually want to be. Itu0026#39;s a difficult time and can be a painful process since the youths in question arenu0026#39;t quite able to verbally express their situation. Instead SHINDO uses the musical talents of his young male and female characters as way of showing how they know instinctively when something feels right for them. It may not quite be an original idea, but it does perhaps have specific Japanese application here in the additional pressure to succeed placed on children from a very young age.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHitting the right note. Finding a chord that resonates and harmonises with the world surrounding you. SHINDO finds good expression for the situation of 13 year-old Uta Naruse in her piano playing. Uta is a gifted and an award-winning young pianist, but she has no interest in developing her talent. Unable to fit in, she is bullied at school and, with her father dead and her mother is finding it difficult to pay bills, Uta is feeling the pressure to succeed. Her interest in the piano is revived when she meets Wao Kikuna, a young boy with the drive and determination to be a great pianist, but with none of the natural skill of Uta.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film works best when it operates on this instinctive and non-verbal musical level to express the situation of its young characters, but it feels a little more forced when it tries to relate them to romantic attraction, to personal disagreements and to specific incidents in Utau0026#39;s past. Itu0026#39;s specifically her relationship with her father, also a gifted pianist who died young that comes to dominate the storyline and SHINDO takes a turn into something quite different and a little less satisfactory when events force Uta to make a decision. Essentially however, the attraction of the filmu0026#39;s theme of being at one with music, with life and oneself comes through. Just breathe it and let it run through you.”