Grand Odyssey. Director: Tomoyuki Kato. Japan—France (2007) 19 min, English.
Japanese science fiction anime tends to veer towards the childish. Combined with the ever present cheap electronic keyboard schmaltzy background music (a problem with most Japanese films), and a horrific English language dub, this tale of earth descendants trying to return the now mythical home planet is a groaner.
Tana-no-Sumi (The Dark Corners of the Shelves). Director: Hajime Kadoi. Japan (2007) 81 min, Japanese with English subtitles.
www.imdb.com/title/tt1031975/
Yasuo runs a toy store with his second wife Hideko. One day, a woman buys a marked-down toy from a corner shelf…and turns out to be Yasuo’s former wife, Yoko. Yoko had run out on Yasuo when their son Tsuyoshi was less than one year old. Tsuyoshi’s never known a mother other than Hideko, and Yoko, who’s been reassigned as an insurance salesperson to the district, is obsessed with watching her son. She’s also not happy with her relationship with her boss Shindo, a younger man who wants to marry her.
A workaday film adaption of a novel. It’s a Japanese “chick flick” version of the type of movie of the week fare that TV networks like LifeTimeTV (a woman-centric digital channel) offer up to their viewers. The story’s revolves more around Yasuo, and his bitterness over Yoko’s abandonment of him and his son, but the strongest character is the stepmother Hikedo, a woman who is barren, and yet is totally devoted to her adopted son and her husband. It is she who ultimately gives Yoko a chance to spend a bit of time with her son, so Yoko can have some resolution and move on with her life. Competent but nothing that shines brightly on this one.
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