Japanese Film Fest 2022: Dream in "Bread of Happiness" and Reality in "Under the Open Sky"

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Bread of Happiness (2021) is a dreamy film, and a wonderful movie to watch before bedtime. It is nice to be reminded of the warmth we recieved from our friends, family and even just acquaintances and what we radiate to others. Cafe Mani encapsulates our dream of cooking/baking with love and attention as opposed to our fastfood lifestyle. Slow, breathtaking shots and pastel color of the film lend homey personal feel. Home-brewed coffee, bread in brick oven, bouquet garni, dried lavender, a lamb, pumpkin soup and a lot more are here. 

While this is a break from a fast-paced lifestyle, this is also a break from fast-paced techno-laden films indeed. I had a vacation after watching this. 

I think, it's inevitable to mention since I have seen the Midnight Diner set in Tokyo and I can say that they are opposite in shades and color but they are also connected by some shades and color. 




"Under the open sky" is a drama about a yakuza who served a total of 28 years in jail for varied crimes in his lifetime and completed his last sentence in 2017. He wanted to change and he looked for his mother who left him in an orphanage when he was 4. 

To the ex-yakuza, he was aided by friends and the government and started to be "on the right path" and winning it. But then, he was confronted with the realities of living "in the right path" which could include cooling down his temper and turning blind eye to "petty" social injustice like bullying.  In a way, he has to kill his yakuza aggression even in that situation. Thus, the ending bit me and made me think deeply of its symbolical meaning. 

"Sometimes running away is the brave thing to do. It opens another path."

This is an interestingly easy watch given the good actor despite the heavy theme.

Ctto: poster from Imdb website


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Thank you, The Japan Foundation, Manila and Japanese Film Festival, Philippines for sharing this film to us though we missed the big screen already. But I watched more feature films now than the past festivals.

Watch Japanese Films for free at https://watch.jff.jpf.go.jp/.

#JFFPH2022 #JFFPHOnline2022 #JapaneseFilmFestPH2022 #JFFPH2022Review


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