I really like Japanese movies. I try to watch at least one movie each week. Nevertheless, I had never seen such a boring movie as the one I saw last night. The name of the movie is 愛の予感 (Premonition of Love) although its international name is “The Rebirth.” This movie tells the story of the parents of two girls. One of the girls killed the other one. So, the mother of the killer girl went to work as a cook to Hokkaido. The father of the killed girl went also to Hokkaido to work as a blacksmith. The first 10 minutes of the movie give the viewer the necessary background to understand the plot. The next 85 MINUTES!!!! show the daily life of the two characters… Day by day… each day doing the same things. He always sits to eat at the same table. She always peels the potatoes and washes the dishes… 85 minutes without a single dialogue. I mean, I like art and I like Japanese culture but this was way too much.
So anyway, at least I’d like to write some things I liked about the movie.
I liked the title J. Sometimes, even if you don’t notice it, life is arranging things so that love can arise. These two characters are indifferent to each other for around 70% of the movie; they hate each other for 25% of the movie but they fall in love for at least 2% of the movie (yes, 3% of the movie are credits and random scenes). The thing with this title “Premonition of love” is that love can emerge in unusual ways, but still you see it coming; if you want to, of course. Some people say that they fell in love at first sight. I don’t think that is possible. But I do think that when you get to know a person, you can easily see if you could be in love with that person. Love, in a romantic sense, warns us about its power. We have the butterflies but still we can kill them or let them fly.
I also liked the representation of human feelings. The characters managed to show that between love and hate there is a blurry thin line. When you love someone with passion, you can also hate with passion. Now, I am aware that Christianity is about loving not hating. But still I know that the more you love, the more you risk. That is why one of my resolutions for this year is not to give more in a relationship than what I am willing to lose. We humans are crazy sometimes and we can change our behavior depending on the circumstances. The characters in the movie hit each other, and some minutes later one of them said: “For me now, life without you is impossible”… that is just how weird human feelings are. But good news, Christianity helps us to control our emotions and act on the basis of our beliefs, not just our feelings. I really think that being a Christian is about convictions rather than emotions. You choose to become a Christian, and then you act in agreement to your faith.
I didn’t like the movie… actually I had to start writing this blog so I wouldn’t fall asleep. But in spite of that, this was a good time to remember that love is possible. Even in a world full of hatred and sorrow, love is possible. I just want to be aware of the 愛の予感 that the Lord could bring to my life. Premonitions are good if they come from a trustworthy source. They let us react and plan ahead. Premonitions let us surrender our will to the Lord so that His may be done.
