Japan Film Festival JFF 2023: Lonely Glory

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Lonely Glory
A Review by Gerlie Uy

This film is about a sister whom we may call ambitious as she is the type who goes out of the house early on in her life and venture outside.  She is also a machiavellian type as her actions gear towards the end justifies the means even if it can be in utter disregard of the other person's feelings for which the Japanese are known to be very considerate of.

The supposed "attitude" portrayed at her workplace in the introduction is not enough reason for me to create a judgment whether she is "user-friedly" kind of person. But when it was followed by the fact that she missed her father's burial and she went home when her mother died because she had to settle the inheritance affairs so she she could get a share and start her business venture, I got the impression. But wait, I actually started to rally behind her at this point.

The movie started with the main character saying "I don't know anymore what I'm trying to achieve" and ended with her sister saying that afterall she's thankful because "I liked the outcome." And I agreed that the main character shook everyone into action, maneuvering them into making each of their decisions of a lifetime - ones that address their self-worth, honor their wants, and erase their doubts.

Surely, one aspect of Japanese film is the minimalist style, more words are layered underneath an action.  I miss this kind of film given the abundance of visual contents and loudness these days.

This film has a strong cast of actors too, a good script with useful lines, perfect scoring at the perfect time only and nice scene shots, a notch higher in cinematography compared to what 2020's films usually deliver.

While this film is a family drama, it also extends to tradition versus acceptance of modernization, that is from keeping the family's neighborhood convenience store and noodle shop running versus just selling it. Also, manual labor in agriculture vs technological modernity.

In the end, I cannot judge whether our main character succeeded or not since she helped her siblings find their "other" way but she herself in the end lost her reason or enthusiasm in getting her inheritance share. Also, at any rate I cannot say that she was ruthless because her action meant well too. But surely, it is indeed a lonely glory in the end. And I actually support her all the way till the end when she thinks "until now I don't know how to say it."

P.S. I don't know but just saying: One of my favorite films is the Italian's classic Cinema Paradiso and I guess, I should update my list and put Lonely Glory.

Japanese Film Festival, Philippines

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