Yujiro Hara

This is the question posited by director Nakamura Yutaro at the start of his latest film, a series of vignettes that bleed into each other. Memories? dreams? Whatever they are, they belong to highschooler Hikari who, along with a friend named Yujiro, get involved with an emotionally unstable man named Takaya. Flash-forward a decade or so and they are all 20-somethings bumbling around on New Year’s Eve night. Hikari has picked up an admirer, Kotaro, while Takaya is shacked up with a young woman named Anzu. A tumultuous night together leads to a quarrel and a truly bizarre New Year’s Day. It’s not a straightforward experience as we surf through these experiences and question whether they are imagined but the feeling of airy freedom and endless possibilities at the end is pleasant.

1941年春、佐賀県唐津市。17歳の俊彦は両親と住んでいたアムステルダムを離れ、ここで暮らす叔母・圭子と同居し、地元の学校に通うように。そこで俊彦は、タフな鵜飼、まるで虚無僧のような吉良、お調子者の阿蘇などが級友となり、肺病を患ういとこの美那に恋心を抱きつつ、楽しく毎日を過ごす。しかし、太平洋戦争の開戦が間近に迫ってきて、俊彦やその周囲の若者たちは少しずつ精神のバランスを崩してしまう。