‘Un Certain Regard’ My Sunshine, which is currently playing at Sydney Film Festival 2024, is a chilly and inspiring tale of an ice prince who forms an emotional blizzard.
There is one thing in common between ice and the capacity of our hearts: it takes only a second to shatter them into pieces.
Nothing seems to excite Takuya (Keitatsu Koshiyama). He smiles when he has to, but he mostly stares without any apparent reason. Just as ice disintegrates when kept out of its original temperature, Takuya melts and immobilizes himself at the sports arena. Takuya doesn’t have the drive to maintain his sporty momentum, where happiness lands on a temporary slate. There is something ultimately missing within those forced emotions.
A moment of destiny blossoms when a shiny ray of sunshine whispers a welcoming note to him in a dream-like manner. Takuya witnesses a form of vision (somewhat surrealistic and eye-opening for his sensory organs) that guides him further. He begins to immerse himself in the ‘calling’ realm, which clenches his focus right onto his ultimate passion – skating. It’s like a magnetic force that drags him from his ennui-filled space and lands him right on his personalized platform. A Peeping Tom named Arakawa happens to witness Takuya’s transformation, and a bond of passionate ice starts forming between them professionally.
The “Japanese tranquil system,” characterized by delicate dialogue delivery and humane connections, is pertinent here. Not a single drop of violence or even a decibel of increased pitch is present, as the film’s showcasing technique blankets us with the comfort of appreciating the little things in life. The pace of the film is incredibly sublime, with the core value of bringing the perseverance of dreams to the inspiration table. It’s more like a subtle process of planting a seed with the utmost care within a meditative ecosystem.
Hiroshi Okuyama has stirred up the Hirokazu Kore-eda formulae wisely, while showering the innocence of kids as a tool to portray the essence of coming of age. Okuyama’s previous film, Jesus, happens to follow a similar vibe, but in a different context. Teenagers being in their own cave of uncertainties get even more disrupted by their decision-making process, leading to misunderstanding maturity and expectations. Yet, the paragons of virtue by witnessing bonding without any pessimism provide a sense of strong connections, especially when The Zombies’ ‘Going Out of My Head’ song is plugged in to make the whole experience even more blithe.
Ultimately, there is a fine line between fulfilling aspirations that have been caged and shattering dreams that comes with a price. My Sunshine stands right in the middle of the line, giving us the podium to experience the scenario of surviving both worlds at one go. The icy cold breeze that surrounds the film comforts us with a cup of hot cocoa to our souls, allowing us to absorb the chilled aura of hope which eventually clusters these characters together. Beyond the stammers of a boy, the realization of a girl about her own personal desires, and a man juggling with his past, time holds the key to deciphering a person’s destiny. Yet, the same icy breeze might turn into a blizzard at the least expected time.
My Sunshine debuted at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, in the Un Certain Regard strand, and is currently being presented at the Sydney Film Festival, running from June 5-16, 2024.
