The Sanriku area of Japan was devastated by a triple disaster combination of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown on March 11th, 2011. Many lives were washed away and many more hopes were washed out.
Japan's national broadcaster NHK produced this fictional television movie for the tenth anniversary of the disaster. Featuring several well-known actors and actresses like Kunimura Jun, Yoshida Yoo (as Akari) and Kusanagi Tsuyoshi (as Kiyoshi), as well as lesser-known ones, the sorrow-filled tale begins pointing in one direction before throwing the viewer for a loop and a surprise ending.
Kiyoshi was a chef and aspiring restaurateur from the Pacific Coast of Tohoku in north-eastern Japan learning how to cook in Tokyo. He had met the Tokyoite Akari, whom he marries, in the capital city and the two move north to Tohoku to start their life together. Kiyoshi opens his own restaurant when disaster hits and the business is drowned in the deluge that follows. Ten years have passed and through a myriad of flashbacks we find Kiyoshi and Akari at a temporary housing unit built for the victims of the disaster. Their lives intermingle with acquaintances new and old. Addicted to alcohol and subsequently regaining control, Kiyoshi has saved, borrowed and been granted enough money to (re)open his Italian restaurant albeit at a new location facing the water. There he invites all those who have been a part of his life and contributed to it since the fateful day, and who have helped him scrounge the will and purpose to start over, to an exclusive dinner event at the rechristened Peperoncino. Luckily, everyone invited makes it and has the occasion to also be introduced to one another as well.
The twist here is cruel and sad, but oh so appropriate. The story yanks the joy and sense of achievement back in the most painful manner and at the worst time. The revelation may not be the most original, but the emotional payoff it yields is more than worth it. This is a recommended quick watch that while short is by no means conventionally sweet.
