It's no secret that I'm a big fan of Junta Yamaguchi's creative movies, especially the ones about time travel. And with this movie River, he takes a familiar concept about time looping and adding a new twist to it!
River follows the life of Mikoto, a girl working at an inn in a quiet and peaceful village called Kibune. One day she stands by the river that flows through the village and makes a prayer, after that time seemingly loops back exactly 2 minutes, but the twist is that she's not the only one affected- the whole village is!
Watching River feels like partaking in a small and private pleasure. The movie doesn't really have a grand scope other than its premise, you get to experience everything within the confines of its own boundaries, the inn and the village. And that's fine, and brilliant because it's in these smaller sets where you can make everything more personal and comforting for the viewer. The story is riveting and its characters even more. Also the sheer ambition and discipline made into making this movie, I watched the behind the scenes of this movie and they actually had a timer for every scene- and if one scene didn't end in exactly 2 minutes then they had to rewrite it on the spot or do everything much more faster!
The actors are all doing great jobs here and do amazing in capturing the absurdity of this situation that they're dealing with.
The music is almost non existent but there, it does its job with simple motifs.
If there's anything negative to say about this film is I guess the filming isn't very nice looking, I know it's meant to be done in the cheapest way possible so I give this a past. Weird use of bloom effect throughout.
Also the movie doesn't really go much deeper into the whole "memory doesn't reset during time loops"-situation, as the movie later shows people are panicking and some even resort to violence and stabbing each other which isn't really explained. I know I'd be fuming if someone stabbed me during a time loop. It's alright though, but it would give the movie another dimension.
Either way, I enjoyed myself a lot watching this movie, it has some funny twists and quirks that will charm everyone. Check it out!
River follows the life of Mikoto, a girl working at an inn in a quiet and peaceful village called Kibune. One day she stands by the river that flows through the village and makes a prayer, after that time seemingly loops back exactly 2 minutes, but the twist is that she's not the only one affected- the whole village is!
Watching River feels like partaking in a small and private pleasure. The movie doesn't really have a grand scope other than its premise, you get to experience everything within the confines of its own boundaries, the inn and the village. And that's fine, and brilliant because it's in these smaller sets where you can make everything more personal and comforting for the viewer. The story is riveting and its characters even more. Also the sheer ambition and discipline made into making this movie, I watched the behind the scenes of this movie and they actually had a timer for every scene- and if one scene didn't end in exactly 2 minutes then they had to rewrite it on the spot or do everything much more faster!
The actors are all doing great jobs here and do amazing in capturing the absurdity of this situation that they're dealing with.
The music is almost non existent but there, it does its job with simple motifs.
If there's anything negative to say about this film is I guess the filming isn't very nice looking, I know it's meant to be done in the cheapest way possible so I give this a past. Weird use of bloom effect throughout.
Also the movie doesn't really go much deeper into the whole "memory doesn't reset during time loops"-situation, as the movie later shows people are panicking and some even resort to violence and stabbing each other which isn't really explained. I know I'd be fuming if someone stabbed me during a time loop. It's alright though, but it would give the movie another dimension.
Either way, I enjoyed myself a lot watching this movie, it has some funny twists and quirks that will charm everyone. Check it out!