Koiwa Go Shichi Go
by Curl on 2005年08月18日 04:14 PM
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恋は五・七・五: ★ ★ of ★ ★
Thanks to the movie Love is 5–7−5, I totally know how to make English club into the best club at school: have everyone fall in love with everyone else.
The climax of the movie is right before the fat ex-cheerleader, Mako, attempts suicide (ah, comedy) for the second time. The English club teacher is about to go after her as she runs off bawling, but Haruko, the take-charge Japanese raised abroad (not really though, her English blows), tells Tsuchi, the hunky photography buff/bad-ass, to do it instead.
“Why me?”
“Haven’t you realized? Mako is in love with you!”
“Haruko… Haven’t you realized?”
“What?”
“I’m in love with you!”
Causing ukulele pixie P-chan to interject, “But don’t you realize P-chan loves her senior Haruko?” and thrust herself between them.
Naturally, Yamagishi, the former baseball club bench warmer, comes out with, “I’ve thought P-chan was cute since we met!”
When at last the haiku teacher protests his love for another teacher, everyone snaps out of it and sets off to save their friend.
Yes, it’s a big ol’ knot of love. With all this love going around, it’s only natural that the audience is drawn in and made to fall in love too. Which as we learn from the final poem of the movie is totally 5–7−5. Two stars!
Reviewed by Curl
I watched the movie again on Thursday evening. It was still thoroughly enjoyable, though there were slight, unexpected problems. Essentially, I ran into a reverse “Meet the Parents” phenomenon.
The first time you see wince-inducing, how-can-it-get-worse?-but-oh-it-just-did! comedies, you feel bad, because, though you know things will work out since it’s a Hollywood movie, you don’t know how things will work out. So, the tension of seeing the continually increased torrent of Ben Stiller is somewhat impeded in its guffaws as you await the cathartic resolution of tension. However, the second time you see such a movie, you’re relaxed, because you know what will happen, and being already catharted, you actually look forward to increased agony of the protagonists and relish their misfortune.
For Koi though, I had the opposite feeling. Knowing the plot as I did, I knew the tribulations in store for the characters, but loving them as I do, it pained me to think of their suffering, however short lived. I longed to see the carefree ease of the Gentle Devil hula dancing scene, but dreaded the devastating initial showdown with fearsome Furuike Senior High or the emotional breakdown on the ramparts of Matsuyama Castle.
Of course, part of the problem stems from the persistent Japanese confusion of drama and comedy, but the point is, the characters are so believable, if humorously exaggerated, that the knowledge of eventual triumph and glory does not wipe away the tears in the valley of the shadow of death.
“Jesus wept.”
Reviewed by Curl