Osamu is an office worker who has recently separated from his girlfriend because she loves to travel, while he prefers to spend his days at the internet cafes. At the start of the movie, he is supposed to be heading to the wedding of the girl he used to date but he misses it as he drinks too much. While in that drunken state, he encounters Rina. Obviously, he bothers her too much and she ends up leaving which is quite obvious. The following day she has one of his invitations and he is in a desperate state to sleep this off telling her to meet him at the train station. Once at the train station, their dreams and inabilities coincide, they meet each other but it comes up that she lacks these abilities I.e. she is a mute, and Abosamu is sorry. In an attempt to bring some resolve to the matter stemmed out of sorry, Osamu tries to take her out for dinner but she insists on going to the beach first.
This film directed by Teppei Isobe is pretty delicate and conveys the significance of second chances to one’s life. This movie conveys the idea that it is fine to take time off from life. As the film progresses, we get to witness Odette in a few random yet funny moments transforming her day into a road trip. Odette meets quite some travel enthusiasts while sailing in the sea. The most impactful thing about the plot is how Rina manager to catalyze Osamu’s transformation. The two merge together which allows us to understand how a breath of fresh air is needed in a once in a while. She is unable to speak due to her dumbness, yet this was not dragged until the last where it might have served as a punch line.
The acting delivers the overall peaceful and placid environment since the depictions of the two actors are on the other side of the aesthetics; equally laconic and unuttered. It is quite something to see Riku Tomitsu progress from a drunken rough man to a calm and remorseful one. On the other hand, Rina Kawagishi as Rina is able to convey her emotions in the most articulately and efficiently ways without saying a single word. The concluding moment where the two of them smile together comes off as their best performance along with the other interactions they had due to their great chemistry.
The visual techniques are also captivating. The Director of Photography, Risa Yamaguchi, exploits Rina’s looks extensively and makes use of several close ups and zooms in to her long red nails which adds a nice touch. As time moved on, the camera focused more on Osamu, although it originally was more distant from him. The moments captured at the beach were especially beautiful as the contrast with the beaches and cities and gloominess offered some new perspectives towards life. Isobe’s editing was mostly an art form, compilation of his different cuts together often aided the deadpan humor that existed inside the narrative and the fast forward sequences of Osamu strolling in the streets at night were without doubt the best parts in the short film.
In terms of Isobe’s writing, directing and editing, “We Did Not Mean to Go to the Sea,’ is, in my opinion, another masterpiece as it is an amazing movie that is elegant, interesting, and contextually.”
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