It triggers a lot of memories… soon after the beginning I realized that I was watching this movie from 2 different angles… that’s why I thought I would see it twice. The first time I focused on the story line and the characters, but I knew how strong the background and context is (for me) that I had to see it again, focusing on the background itself.
You remember that there were scenes that they went to a karaoke house? You know… those scenes trigger memories… when I was in high school, there were four of us, and we were just like “gangs” or something, but not the kind of bad meaning. We sometimes skipped school for boating… probably spent 3 hours boating and then until everybody was thoroughly wet and then dried, we always went to our favorite karaoke house… soft drinks were totally free, buffet was always cheap… you know… loud speakers on the street…for me it’s all like old days back…
And another scene was they went to a topless dancing club without knowing what it looks like…and a Japanese woman was sent to the guy’s hotel room… it was also when I was a freshman in the university, I had this part time job in a book store. In the store we had a corner for the readers; we offered ice creams etc, just like a Starbucks in the Chapter’s. I noticed that there was this girl who came to the store almost every afternoon. We have the same birthday. Same year, same date. I knew this because one day it was my birthday and they bought me a cake. She walked in and saw the cake, so she said it was her birthday too. She looked nice, but looked a lot older than me. At first I had no idea what she was doing for living, we chatted when we met in the store, but she never said anything about her job. She was a nice girl. Then one day she came in with all these bruises on her face and neck, so I asked her what happened, are you ok etc. She then started to cry and said “those bastards” then I realized that she was a hooker, and she got beaten up by her clients. It was a nearby hotel, which was her “area”. She also show me the bruises on her body, it was terrible. And those “clients” of hers, also said that they would bring more people and asked her to show up that night too…I said then don’t go, but she said that was her only “area”… she had nowhere else to go… I’ll never forget that… we were born on the same day, but we had totally different fate…
Anyways I like this movie for two things… it’s a gentle, subtle movie that reaches the most delicate corner in your deep heart… You know one scene is they are in bed talking, and he says “you’re not hopeless”, he holds her foot… the emotion is so subtle…I love it….
