Yoshino's Barber Shop (2004) @ バーバー吉野

Clearly you might have been born in the wrong generation
not to have known this tactile pleasure.

At a glance:

Masako Motai

In Naoko Ogigami's debut feature, we have one annoyingly low-key movie about small town sentiments against modern change. Told through a few central characters with the main plot device being a compulsory haircut on school children, one would not have expected the film to be such an effective, although slow, social commentary. In sleepy Kaminoe, the good people live a life of silent rigidity - people wake up, get hurried to finish their breakfast, go to work or school, come home to dinner and sleep by night - only to do the same thing again tomorrow. The social structure that enshrines their way of life is never better represented than by the Yoshino haircut - a ridiculous bowl-shaped style, forced into the minds (and onto the heads) of young children through tradition without question. Rattlin their universe of meanin is Yosuke (Hoshi Ishida), a student from Tokyo who waltzes in with his swanky J-pop hair. His refusal to accept the Yoshino haircut triggers an awakenin amongst the townsfolk - where does it say that we all need to be the same?
Bad news on the doorstep:
This movie projects a stubborn lack of urgency. Yet the quiet charm of the story may just win those who'd give it a chance after being initially interested by the colourful characters.

"With the right set of underwear,
I will win me a man."

Reminds me of:
Schoolin days. This film is gentle but very ambitious. The humour sits you down and not up, and sometimes borders on tasteless - but always believable because life is sometimes, exactly like that. Yoshiko's ball-bustin character (played by the wonderful Masako Motai) evoke memories of the strict woman discipline teacher in anyone who was ever a schoolkid, but colourful characters like these, especially the village madman who does nothin but chase people about, are visual representations of the central discussion - do we really need to conform to be accepted? Consider the retrenched father who is strugglin to be accepted for a job, yet when he sings in the bath out of a sudden unexplained joy, he's quickly told by his wife not to disturb the neighbours. Consider also the sexy sister, who buys the reddest, most attractive lingerie to be accepted by her boyfriend. These are the lives of people who are livin for others, more than for themselves. Yet director Ogigami provides redemption and wrote them all a way out - to first learn to accept themselves.
Most memorable line:
A father in the film would tell his son: "Bein an adult simply means bein considerate to others."
Amacam joker, berapa bintang lu mau kasi?
Go watch this movie but don't come back askin for me to be given a Yoshino haircut if you didn't like it.★★★

Trailer for the curious:

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