Mitsuko lives her life like a cloud, drifting wherever the wind blows her. After moving to California with an American she wanted to help, the two end up dating each other but eventually split prompting Mitsuko’s return to Japan, though unbeknownst to her parents.
Now, Mitsuko is nine months pregnant, has no job, no money and no man. Without a real care in the world, Mitsuko decides to follow the wind and ends up at an old lady’s apartment, a former landlord of her parents from back when she was a child. While there, Mitsuko re-enters Yoichi’s world, a guy who has had a crush on Yoishi (Aoi Nakamura) from the day he first saw her.
Directed by Yuya Ishii, Mitsuko Delivers follows the young woman as she weaves her way into the lives of all those around her, causing subtle mayhem and personal enlightenment on her quest to help everyone that needs it and so that she can dub herself “cool” (cool=generous, willing to help those who are struggling).
Mitsuko Delivers is extremely quirky and full of some pretty dry comedy especially if you’re not expecting it (like me). It takes a while to get used to but eventually you start to understand the style of this Japanese filmmaker which results in a more wholesome and original experience. The most notable scene is the over the top approach to the film’s hilarious ending where Mitsuko actually delivers. It’s hard not to chuckle over a pregnant lady who walks around not caring about the fact that’s she pregnant and works like a dog even though she could give birth at a moments notice, it’s something you don’t see everyday.
Mitsuko, who is played by wonderfully by Naka Riisa, is such an odd character for someone who wants to genuinely help people but is so careless with how she treats herself. For example, Mitsuko felt bad for the American so she just let him impregnate her like it was no big deal. She also found Yoichi’s loyalty to her awe inspiring and “cool” so she made it her vendetta like mission to make his restaurant profitable again. While the latter doesn’t sound so bad it’s her approach to everything that makes her different. She is so aggressive and forces people into the restaurant but then her hormones get the best of her when she listens to the cus
tomers’ poor stories that she decides everything is on the house. What boggles my mind though is that while some people may see her as being almost heartless and generous, I also see a girl desperate to be “cool,” essentially turning her heated passion into straight up selfish behavior.
Riisa’s performance reminds me a lot of a Mark Duplass performance: very indie, somewhat out there and quirky, but the way they portray their characters makes you feel like you know or have met them before (though I can’t imagine the pregnant part to be true for most).
My main issue with the film, despite not having enough laughs, is that the picture doesn’t establish Mitsuko’s good intentions early on and in an honest way, instead I thought she was just a hormonal and invasive bitch rather than just an aggressively friendly individual. Granted, you learn more once we get halfway through but my entire perception of her was way off for a majority of its duration.
Overall, Mitsuko Delivers winds up being the story of a broke pregnant woman trying to make it on her own by semi-ignoring the fact that she’s actually pregnant and helping others face their deepest fears and accept their reality for what it is. Luckily for us, the performances are enjoyable to watch but, and this is my favorite part, this is one of those movies where the more you think back on it the funnier it gets.
Rating: An oddly charming flick that will both delight and perplex you with its originality (6/10)
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