The “Before” trilogy is a landmark in cinema. Directed by Richard Linklater, each movie was released 9 years apart, following up on the previous one. Each one shows how love evolves between two people along their relationship in real time. Objectively all three movies are well shot with great acting and an amazing script. To put it simply, all 3 movies are simply a collection of conversations with topics ranging from the ambiguous to the intimate. It’s like being left alone with two intimate strangers, not knowing the prologue or the epilogue to their life, and the only thing accessible being the conversation at present.

Before Sunrise (1985) shows the innocence of love. The fruits of the romanticism era, were themes like fate, soul mates and meant for each other are the most ripest. People reminisce of this phase of love the most. The time where adulthood was just around the horizon, when life seemed simpler and people less complex. We’ve all been there, when everything is a first, crush, love, kiss and more. We didn’t care about anything else, we were in a world created solely by the fondness for each other. This movie is that fraction of our life in a beautifully shot, well written and acted piece of media.

Before Sunset (2004) is where reality sets in, but still there’s hope for what could have been. This is my favorite movie as this is where my life resides at the moment. You understand that just appreciating each others beauty isn’t enough for what you desire. You long for someone to fully understand you and all your complexities. It is thus easy to feel overly attached to the ones that do. You start to see the parameters of what a real relationship entails, all the while understanding which parameters you value. The movie is more hopeful than real life, maybe that’s why I loved it, because it gave me something than I know I won’t get in real life.

Before Midnight (2013) is where everyone will eventually end up. Humans are social beings, but at the end of the day, we exist alone. We will have our own opinions, thoughts, likes-dislikes and thousand other factors that prove unchangeable even in the presence of another human. This movie shows a fraction of that hardship, the reality of tolerating the human you promised to share a life with. I wish there was a prettier picture to paint, but seeing this movie, comparing it to others who have been married for more than my age including my parents, I understand it’s more tolerating than anything else. Showing a blind eye, loving the little things, appreciating the good and downplaying the tolerable is what every lasting relationship ends up to be.

This post Lessons About Love From The Before Trilogy first appeared on R1CHU and is written by R1CHU

I have so much to-do, yet so little time. I feel death coming a step closer, each time I blow that candle off my cake. Then I look at my parents, and I see eyes filled with time. They have all the time in the world, yet they are 40 years ahead of me. Why am I behind them, yet feel ahead? This disconcerting question is what this film portrayed using a simple metaphor, one which I still think about.

Around 55:20 mins in the film, Mick Boyle played by Harvey Keitel hikes up a mountain with his screenplay actors who are youngsters, probably in their late twenties. At the top, he points to a telescope and tells them to view the mountain through it. They see the mountain up close, filling the entire frame with grandness. He says, “this is how young people view their life”. He then flips the telescope around and tells them to view the mountain again, this time, everything is stretched and far away; “this is how I see my life”.

The first scene shows how youngsters, including me sees life as a short burst, with limited time and limitless activities. We get so caught up, trying to do everything before our demise that we forget the miles in between. But when he flips it around, the image is a long stretch, implying the sufficient time he and others, including my parents, sees in their life. They know life is not a sprint, but a long mundane marathon, with sufficient time to make mistakes and learn to live with them.

The film doesn’t explain any of this of course, or even comment at it in the future. This is just a filler scene in-between, that simply states this fact and makes us do the introspection. For some reason, this hit me on a deep level. I’m chasing this high, doing everything at once, biting more than I can chew and pushing life back. But that’s the exact opposite, this film teaches you. You can’t push life back, you can only allow it to flow. For me, the film is ultimately about letting life win, which is evident by the ending. Accepting that life will never go the route you planned and it’s better to let life take it’s course, than trying to derail it to your liking. Even though these are my words, I still haven’t truly internalized them. I guess this is one of those things, that I can’t truly take in, until I’m older.

This post Youth (2015) – That One Scene first appeared on R1CHU and is written by R1CHU

I had previously only seen 2 of his films, and thought they were good, but didn’t think much of it. This was due to my lack of appreciation for the art that goes behind these films and my inability to see these in a critical eye. I have improved, but not mastered these skill. Yet, I decided it was high time I take the time to watch all his movies in the order it came out and understand why he is so well praised in the anime community.

Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984) grabbed my attention within the first few shots. Beautiful yet un-nerving. You don’t get an exposition dumb explaining where or when you are, but the films makes you wonder. You can see a lot of common threads in all his movies. One such being the weird mix between advanced aircraft, historic weapons and nature spirits. The hand drawn animation is amazing and each frame is wallpaper material. This is also a trait which continued till his last movie, and one which I will be praising often.

Castle in the Skies (1986) starts off hectic and flaunts the amazing animation skills of its animators. This movie takes a departure from the very serious tone of Nausicaa to a goofy and unrealistic tone, which still works. Unfortunately, the movie slows down from the mid way point and doesn’t reach the bombastic heights of its first half.

My Fried Totoro (1988) is probably one of the most beloved Ghibli movies, second only to Spirited Away. The film takes a step back in its grand animation pieces, instead focusing on the mundane. This is by no extent a flaw, but what I enjoyed most about the movie. It takes so much care in showing off the authentic Japanese lifestyle from the littlest of actions. I couldn’t help but have a smile on my face throughout the film.

Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989) had more to say but settled for less. I was drawn to the premise from the start, a coming of age story about a witch, who has to move out of her house and find her identity. The movie itself is great in terms of animation and story, but even when the credits rolled, I wanted more from this world. More about witches, this world, her delivery business, the forest painter and more.

Proco Rosso (1992) was something I vaguely remembered because I had watched it, years back. I wasn’t fond of it the first time and I’m an idiot for that. This film has a lot going for it, like its great animation, underlying theme about love and war and its witty and sharp writing, which has some of the most memorable dialogues in a Ghibli movie. This movie also has one of my favorite endings among all his works, which I’m obviously not going to spoil here.

Princess Mononoke (1997) is my favorite from the bunch. It has a similar gritty tone as Nausicaa and it isn’t afraid to show some blood and guts, which I respect. The animation feels different somehow, but as always, is great. I love the characters, as each has their own motive and reasons. The strong female leads are here as well, like in all of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies, which I can’t get enough of.  

Spirited Away (2001) is his magnum opus. The animation is the best among all his movies and I can’t imagine the time and effort it took for them to create this spectacle. The whole setting is so weird, so odd. All the creatures, how they act, how they move about, the film doesn’t waste time explaining them, but just, lets us witness it. There are probably many Japanese beliefs and traditions that completely blew past my head, which is another reason why this movie is so re-watchable.

Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) was my least favorite among all his works. I wasn’t motivated by Sophie’s journey, as she was in no hurry to lift her curse which totally ruined the pacing for me. Even Howl’s character seemed inconsistent, which made me unsympathetic towards him. Miyazaki also started using 3D animations in a lot of his shots for this movie, which was a departure from the fully hand drawn 2D art of his previous movies.

Ponyo (2008) is a weird movie when you look at it with adult eyes, but a cute wholesome movie when you view it with kids eyes. At first glance, you might be made to believe this wasn’t a Ghibli movie, as it looks completely different. Simple environment and character design, instead of heavily detailed ones, flat colors, instead of detailed shading and very simple dialogues. I don’t want to judge this the same way I judged the other movies, as it’s obviously aimed for a very, very young audience. Therefore, I’ll let it slide.

The Wind Rises (2013) was a surprise. After the first 10 minutes, I thought it would be a slog but then out of nowhere the earthquake scene happened and it pulled me right in. I was really surprised by how much everything felt real, and to my surprise, this is true because it is a fictionalized biographical of its main character Jiro. I was put off by this at first, since I didn’t know how much of this was real and how much fiction. But keeping that thought aside, the movie is actually great with themes of passion, political power struggle, respectful friendship and mature love. I really liked it, and wouldn’t mind giving it another watch.

You can clearly distinguish Hayao Miyazak’s work by his love for traditional Japanese lifestyle and beliefs, his love for animating clouds and planes, his views on war and nature and his appreciation for strong female leads, which is bundled with great animation, good human values, an awesome soundtrack and a promised happy ending. Like that, 10 movies and an appreciation for 2D animation and Hayao Miyazaki later, I’m happy to say, these are some of the best anime movies you can watch, and I’m glad I spent my time with each.

This post Reviewing Every Hayao Miyazaki Film first appeared on R1CHU and is written by R1CHU

This film is something special. I went into this film expecting some half-assed film about VRchat, but what I didn’t expect is it to change how I viewed human interactions and intimacy. Humans are social beings. We want to touch, be touched… we want to talk and be listened to. Sharing experiences and making memories with others is what gives our life meaning. It is something innate and beautiful, and this film showcases a part of it beautifully.

The film is completely filmed inside the game VRchat. For those who don’t know, VRchat is a PC game in which you chat and hang out with other people inside a virtual reality. You can create your own avatar (character) and even build different worlds and spaces to hang out with your friends. The game itself is free, but you need a VR headset to experience it. As a result, the film has a terrible frame rate and stuttering problem which isn’t a blame on the film, but instead the game, which heavily relies on ones internet, so you’ll see a lot, and I mean a lot of jankiness and stuttering. But in a way I’m happy the film shows that, because it’s a way of acknowledging the game isn’t perfect, and we aren’t ready to go completely “ready player one” yet.

The film follows a few different communities inside VRchat, showcasing their daily doings, this ranges from an ASL learning community to a full on belly dancing community in VR (crazy right). Additionally there are personal interviews with key figures in the community, which in my opinion is what brings life into the lifeless avatars. There is a couple who fell in love in VR during the covid isolation, there’s another who occupies VRchat to escape their suicidal thoughts and another who uses VRChat to cope with the loss of a loved one. This film isn’t about the game, it’s about people. People who use this medium to connect with other people to fill the gaps of loneliness in their life.

As I play a lot of games, I’m used to big tiddy anime girls, inanimate objects and other crazy things in the virtual space. So it wasn’t hard for me to relate to these characters, but I understand if that aspect takes you out of your immersion. Again the stuttering and frame rate can be nauseating to some, whereas the whole virtual setting can be unrealistic to others. But for me, this film was a good reminder on one of the key aspects of being human. The people we share our lives with.

This post We Met In Virtual Reality (2022) – Review first appeared on R1CHU and is written by R1CHU

At exactly the halfway point of the film, there is an uninterrupted 4 minute shot of Hae-mi played by actress Jeon Jong-seo, where she takes her top off and dances in front of the South Korean flag looking at the horizon, and it’s my favorite shot from the whole film.

The scene is set up a few minutes earlier when both Ben and Hae-mi gives a surprise visit to Jong-su at his house, which is located at the outskirts of the city. Upon arriving they state how close they are to North Korea and that it’s just around the horizon. They also mention how they can hear the North Korean propaganda through the radio because of their proximity. After chatting for a bit, they decide to get high and they all share a joint. A moment of silence.. and the shot begins.

In my eyes, this shot, this exact 4 minute long shot represents the striking contrast between South and North Korea. Two countries that share a common name and a common border, yet are worlds apart. This movie is in no way political, but I can’t help but feel the message being shown. South Koreans have every bit of freedom the rest of the world enjoys, yet right across the hill there’s North Korea where people have little to no freedom in expressing themselves.

The shot begins with her taking her top off and dancing while facing the horizon. She then shows a dove flying out of her hands, which may be interpreted as the freedom enjoyed by South Koreans. The shot continues with her dancing and expressing herself while the camera brings the South Korean flag in and out of the frame, which further hammers down the underlying message. Equally, I have to mention 2 other things, firstly the soundtrack used here is amazing. It’s a jazz tune that slowly creeps in that invokes a feeling that is hard to describe. Secondly it is beautifully shot with the orange sunset as the backdrop. The shot ends with her crying, which in my opinion says she’s unhappy even after having all this freedom, this has more to do with the story and not the overarching message of the shot. Finally as she goes out of frame, we get almost a minute of silence where the camera pans over the hills, leaving us with just our thoughts and then finally cuts off.

This post Burning (2018) – That One Shot first appeared on R1CHU and is written by R1CHU