There were some points that made the movie "His" a beautiful film to watch, but there were also many others that slowed it down.
The main factor that works brilliantly for the story is the cinematography. The rural scenary, along with the action taking place in a small community, while the one of the male leads, Shun, is living a quiet, agricultural life, in addition to the slow pace of the story, all enabled the film to master the spot on right atmosphere for the drama that was going to present.
The love story, on the one hand, was pretty intense, sad and with just enough twists. Honestly, I haven't watched the prequel series, which, as I'm informed, was more lighthearted and opting for a more youthful and cute look. This movie, though, was edging more on the dramatic side, flirting with the subjects of social obligation, homophobia, abandonment and social isolation. Those themes, along with the atmosphere that was managed to be created, worked nicely for the love story. However, Nagisha was an endearing character to like. He was presented as a victim most of the time, but his actions were more on the selfish side when it came to his lover (he decides to show up unannanounced after years of seperation which he had enforced on Shun) or his ex wife (though one can't really sympathize with her easily). But, he does manage to redeem himself in the end.
On the other hand, especially on the second half, the movie deepened more into the family drama. The story focuses on the trial between the two exes for the custody of the daughter and things get out of hand. The lawers take the main part of the screentime, attacking the two parents with arguements that didn't seem to work. For example, the mother's lawyer could easily have pointed out that Nagisha doesn't have a home of his own and, thus, he might not suitable for full custody. Alas, he opted to stick with his sexual preferenced, even when things didn't seem to be working for him.
Another annoying factor was the presentation of the ex wife. Edging the lines of bias, she was shown as the one who was capable of hurting the child, while she was more into her job than caring for her daughter. She even had a drunk insident. At this point, Nagisha's reasoning in the end was spot on.
So, overall, 5.5 out of 10. The movie was nice, but they focused more on the family drama and less of the love story
