Underplayed Gems

Hanagatami (2017)

Hanagatami poster
Original title
花筐
Directed by
Nobuhiko Obayashi
Genre
drama film
Country
Japan
Runtime
2h 48m
Rated
PG12
Rating
7.1 of 10 from 33 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More films like thisWatch the trailer

or watch the trailer on YouTube

How it feels

The film follows a sixteen-year-old boy who moves to a coastal town during World War II. He forms friendships and romances with local youths as the war looms over their lives.

melancholicdreamlikevisually lushpoeticbittersweetexperimentallyricalsurreal

What happens

Hanagatami (花筐; lit. "Flower Basket") is a 2017 Japanese war film directed by Nobuhiko Ōbayashi, based on a 1937 novel by Kazuo Dan. The film tells a story of the purity of youth beset by the chaos of war, inspired by Obayashi's own childhood. It revolves around Toshihiko, a sixteen-year-old teenager who moves in with his aunt in Karatsu, and develops friendships and romances with the inhabitants of the town as World War II rages. The film was originally conceived during the 1970s, before Obayashi made his feature film directorial debut with House (1977), but was not produced for another 40 years. Before production, Obayashi was diagnosed with stage-four cancer and was only given a few months to live. Hanagatami received acclaim, garnering numerous awards, including the Best Film Award at the 72nd Mainichi Film Awards. It was praised for its exuberant and vibrant visuals, its experimental and psychedelic direction and editing, its strong anti-war message and its sense of personalness. It is the third installment in a thematic trilogy of modern anti-war films by Obayashi, along with Casting Blossoms to the Sky (2012) and Seven Weeks (2014). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.