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Fantasia 2023: River Review
Image Credit: Fantasia IFF
Loading...Directed by: Junta Yamaguchi
Written by: Makoto Ueda
Starring:
Riko Fujitani – Mikoto
Manami Honjô – Kimi
Gôta Ishida – Kusumi
Yoshimasa Kondô – Obata
Shiori Kubo – Hisame
Masahiro Kuroki – Shiraki
Kohei Morooka – Morioka
Munenori Nagano – Head clerk
Haruki Nakagawa – Sugiyama
Yoshifumi Sakai – Eiji
Saori – Chino
Masashi Suwa – Nomiya
Yûki Torigoe – Taku
Kazunari Tosa – Hunter
Running Time: 82 minutes
Not Rated
Junta Yamaguchi delivered one of the most delightful surprises of Fantasia International Film Festival’s 25th iteration in Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes. His quirky DIY iPhone-shot science fiction comedy took the oft-used concept of time travel and contained it in a single take-style tale about a television that could look two minutes into the future. Yamaguchi and his Europa Kikaku put together a remarkably intricate and quite funny film that deserves to have more people see it.
Two years later, Yamaguchi and Europa Kikaku have done it again with River. Their new film had its North American premiere at Fantasia 2023 and returns to the two-minute time loop concept with a more complex take that manages to outdo the original in surprising ways.
Set in the snowy town of Kibune on Kyoto, River centers itself around the Fujiya Inn where Mikoto (Riko Fujitani) works as a waitress. She is one of a number of employees at the quaint establishment including chef Taku (Yûki Torigoe), fellow waitress Chino (Saori), and others. The inn is currently frequented by two friends who are reuniting over a meal as well as Obata (Yoshimasa Kondô), the struggling author of a serial novel, and his assistant Sugiyama (Haruki Nakagawa).
After going down to check the beer supply, Mikoto takes a brief moment by the river that runs next to the inn and then goes back upstairs to get back to work. And exactly two minutes later, she opens her eyes and realizes she is back in front of the river. It doesn’t take long for the establishment – and others in the nearby vicinity – to realize that they’re stuck in a two-minute time loop where they remember everything that’s happened but unable to break the constant time resets.
The central conceit of River sees the characters returning to their initial positions every two minutes on the dot and then having them react with the knowledge of everything from the previous time loops. To generalize it, think of it as Groundhog Day shot in real time but the loops are shortened from a day to two minutes and everyone knows what’s going on. On paper, that seems like a concept that could get old very quickly, even with a runtime of just 82 minutes. After all, how much can you actually accomplish two-minute swaths?
In the hands of Yamaguchi and writer Makoto Ueda, the answer is “a lot.” Ueda’s script has several little twists and turns, and it makes sure that things don’t get repetitive to the point that it becomes a slog. New elements get progressively added in as the Fuijya Inn’s inhabitants become more cognizant of the situation, and even more so when a neighboring restaurant’s chefs who are also stuck get involved.
The interactions are largely played for comedy here; we have everything from the silly (Sugiyama was in the bath and spends most of his time in a towel with shampoo in his hair) to the varied reactions to the constant resets. But there’s also a heart at the center of the film, embodied by Mikoto’s relationship with Taku which is both sweet and authentic in its signs of growing pains. Everyone has a reason for being at the inn, and there’s a throughline that underscores the difficulty of moving forward in life and letting go.
It’s very easy for films about time manipulation to get caught up in the minutiae of the rules and thus get distracted from the overall themes for the sake of plot adherence. River doesn’t do that. There are rules to the whole thing, but they’re kept simple, allowing the talented cast and crew to instead let the comedy flow and the story’s heart come through. By the time we get an explanation of what’s behind the time loops, it goes down smoothly, and we’ve already grown to appreciate this charming film for everything else it has to offer.
The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in Montreal from July 20th through August 9th.
