Starting from his feature film debut, Sugita has focused on the detail inside his protagonist’s life turning it into poetic movie language in which the storyline is almost never the focus. In a way, this makes the endeavor the main aspect of the movie, where the Japanese director emphasizes on sound and turning it into more of an ‘auditory’ base as opposed to physical. And while the idea of Haru tracking someone down with a camera seemed bizarre at first, it is the unending thirst to understand under which pretenses the contacts predicated that Tekeru implemented the plan. What was curious about Sugita’s script was the fact that he never usually outright talks the inner thoughts of his main characters. Instead, he adverts by delving into his character’s intimacy a little bit, twisting Sugita’s narrative in the prospect of character-building. Moreover, this immersion allows the viewer to see his characters being functional, be it while travelling, working, or eating.
And even if food becomes the unification factor, the narrative language is not very serious as it actually is finger food for cementing business relations instead.
Illustrating and expanding the mechanics of the theoretic aspect introduced to him by Sugita, began working genuinely on the motion picture with An Ogawa (Tatsunari Ota’s Berlinale contender There is a Stone and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s short film Heaven Is Still Far Away) as the film beleaguered by loss of her mother in teenager by er, Haru, says about herself. For example, he cites his two-decade long experience of giving workshops in Tokyo in an art museum with elderly people, as character forming elves feeding on memories. When given room to handle the camera to recreate a specific situation from their lives, he says, the elderly people always knew what to do.
In the same way, the peaceful and patient lens of the DoP Yukiko Iioka gently rotates around people and allows some details on the screen, as if to suggest that there is something else which deserves your attention. But both him and Sugita seem to be more interested to see what happens by chance than calling for shots, and this results in a beautiful, authentic interplay between all actors involved in the film.
Also, the Japanese director is keen to explain stepping out of the comfort zone as something that fully participates in the healing process. By helping to establish the link between three people with deep psychological scars who offer treatment to one another, he does precisely that. On the other hand, when she approaches Yukiko (the outstanding Yuko Nakamura) with the excuse that she has been unable to locate the recommended ‘good’ diner, there is a strong connection between the two women because they carry the weight of trauma on their backs. Even in a seemingly unjustified stalking business of her’s, after she’s been shadowing middle aged man Tsuyoshi (Hidekazu Mashima), it becomes a gift, a healing encounter for painful sharing of stories.
“Following The Sound” is a film which is a little miracle in itself that teaches us to listen and perceive the music of life in a very different manner.
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