Yoshihiro Nakamura (Fish Story, A Boy and His Samurai) is one of the most interesting Japanese directors working today so I obviously had to make it a point to sit down and watch his latest endeavor, Potechi (Chips), which is his latest adaptation of a Kotaro Isaka novel (Fish Story, Golden Slumber).
Potechi focuses on a man named Imamura (Gaku Hamada), an unsuspecting burglar who is obsessed with a bench warming baseball player named Ozaki who resides on the Sendai Giants. Ozaki isn’t the brightest guy out there but he has good intentions and that’s how he meets his current girlfriend named Wakaba (Fumino Kimuda). When she decides to tag along on one of his burglar jobs, which just so happens to be Ozaki’s apartment, the phone rings. After listening to the message the two decide to find the girl who called and try and help her get rid of a stalker. With the help of an older friend and fellow burglar named Kurosawa (Nao Ohmori), they try to figure out what’s going on with the girl, what her relationship is to Ozaki and why Imamura’s fate seems so strongly linked to the baseball player and former local high school hero.
Potechi opens with a very confusing and slightly amusing scene. Imamura makes some comments and Kurosawa sits in disbelief as he listens to his ramblings, one of which includes Imamura’s recent discovery of the concept of gravity. As the movie progresses we eventually return to the opening sequence where everything is clarified but the road to that moment is very quirky, full of off-beat humor,, and a string of connections that slowly tie everything together.
Staying true to the comedy vs. drama dynamic of Fish Story, Yoshihiro Nakamura is able to tell a touching and eventually interesting story about a not-so special guy looking to make amazing discoveries and revealing them to those around him-though he is always surprised when people already know what he has discovered (like how a triangle always adds up to 180 degrees). He somehow is able to have solid impacts on the people around him even if they can’t always see it and that’s the aspect that drew me into Potechi. Though, what I ended up liking the most was that my emotions seemed to always be in line with Imamura’s rather than any of the other characters, and it’s this emotional connection that Nakamura establishes that lets me know that, as a filmmaker, he has succeeded.
Even though Imamura is a bit off and the film itself is a rather unusual, but not weird, comedy, Chips eventually culminates to a very happy and exciting climax that’ll leave you with a sense of perplexed joy. If it doesn’t, which is possible (I found myself anx
ious more than once), don’t bother fretting as the movie is only 68 minutes long so it’s over almost as fast as it started. The best part about the run time is that none of the narrative seems rushed or crammed, it flows well which is a true testament to Nakamura ‘s skill.
Nakamura decided to make this film to help the people of Sendai, who are still feeling the aftereffects of the devastating 2011 earthquake, understand that random events shouldn’t control their destinies and that our fate can be controlled with a little willpower, determination and maybe, in Imamura’s case, even the simple crack of a baseball bat.
Overall, Potechi is a seemingly simple but actually a much deeper story that’s well made and well acted. Though it takes its time getting to the heart of the story, once Potechi does you’ll feel quite satisfied with the results. It may not be my favorite Nakamura film but there is no denying that it has a certain charm to it.
Rating: A quirky, eventually sweet, and intriguing piece of Japanese cinema (6.8/10)
Potechi was the closing night film of this year’s NYAFF and an official selection of Japan Cuts Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema 2012.
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