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If you ever asked me why did I pick up this film for a review, the answer is quite obvious for me. It's because the movie literally speaks to me. By answering some questions I've never imagined I had in my mind, by representing the image of a geeky-linguistic graduated that pretty much sum up myself. The smell of paperback that I sniffed right upon when I opened a book will be the feeling that I get when watching The Great Passage. Book is an amazing piece of work invented by human. I love to keep my bookmark at the middle of the book cause it might be too sad to put it near the end knowing that you gonna finish it soon and it might be too vague to put it anywhere earlier from the middle. Also, I find it fascinating that bookstores exist, and 'bookshelf' is a shelf where books are placed.
Well, just some random thoughts before I begin my review. Let's begin shall we;
The Great Passage ( 舟を編む ) is a 2013 film directed by Yuya Ishii based on the novel "Fune wo Amu" written by Shion Miura. It was also being adapted into anime by the same title released in 2016. It tells a story of Majime (Ryuhei Matsuda) a linguistic graduated working for a book company, Genbu Shobo in sales department. His everyday life changes when the former chief of the Dictionary Editorial Department, Kohei Araki (Kaoru Kobayashi) asked him to be working for the team in publishing the new dictionary "The Great Passage". Majime took the challenge and he will be working with fellow workmates Nishioka (Odagiri Joe), Sasaki (Hiroko Isayama), Matsumoto-san (Go Kato) and later introduced in the story after the time skip is Kishibe played by Kuroki Haru. The plot is rather simple, it revolves around the process it took in publishing the dictionary.
The story took place in 1995 and featuring places such as the dictionary department, their after-work dinner restaurant, the sushi restaurant where Kaguya (Aoi Miyazaki) works as a chef and the Sou-un House where Majime lives with his landlady Take (Misako Watanabe).
The cinematography plays a satisfying role in the film, different angle shots and breathtaking scenery of the bookshelves. The colors suit the 90's vibe too along with Majime all-time favorite white shirt and black pants. His appearance didn't transform much when the time skip took over 12 years later, except for his more confident personality. I love how they mix up the dynamic personality of other characters with the over shy Majime. His landlady Take who understands him very well, his co-worker Nishioka who is much talkative, passionate and knows how to show his affection and Kishibe who possesses a more modern-like thinking.
Odagiri Joe as Nishioka surprised me, I barely recognized that it was him which frequently happened when I watch him acting. The winner this time will be Matsuda Ryuhei portrayal of the protagonist. Well, he did have a serious face all the time considering the name Majime (literally translated as serious). Acting wise, all of them performed a remarkable performance. Matsuda Ryuhei's facial expressions from blinking, smiling and putting on a 'space out' face put the character on highlight.
It includes lines and words of wisdom which I very much keen of. The scenes when they define the word 'right','cut', 'lame' and love' are some of my favorites. The connection they made in their conversation. Like when Majime told Take how he can't express himself and can't understand other people's feels and Take answer it wonderfully;
One particular scene that I clearly remember is when Majime first came to the dictionary department. He's being told that "The beginning was the Word, just learn to love words first". I often being reminded by my lecturer that you're a student who study the language, you're learning things you used everyday in your life. Just wanna make a parallel point here that you gotta begin something by 'learning' the 'thing' you gonna pursue on.
There's a romance tag in the movie, I guess it stands for the relationship between Majime and Kaguya. The definition of 'romance' itself is subjective for me. It goes the same with love. The interaction between these two can be defined as supportive? Or mutual understanding that lead to them being one another other half. It's sweet and heartwarming.
That's Torajirou, Tora's grandson as a scene stealer.
Little details they put in the film makes me happy. The 'usage collection card' where they always had it in their pocket to jot down any new words they found. They make the clock rings at 12 am when it fast-forwarded to 12 years later and the snow that fall when they went back from the funeral.
To sum up my review:
Overall: 9/10
Story: 9.0
Acting/Cast: 10.0
Cinematography: 8.0
Re-watch Value: 8.5
It will reach you if you don't mind slow pace film, slice of life genre, if you appreciating books or words in general and top notch acting. I am aware that it took a long time to finish up a dictionary, but I never imagined the hard work they faced behind the curtain. What did you feel when the film ended? I always asked this to myself when I finished one, for this, I feel connected and it taught me to appreciate every little things I encountered in my life. Received great achievement in 37th Japan Academy Prize in 2014 which i think pretty deserving, Fune wo Amu hold a top place in my list. Ending the review with some of my favorite lines from the film:
"A dictionary is a boat floating in the great sea, people cross the sea with a boat that is the dictionary, and seek the appropriate word to describe their feelings." - Matsumoto sensei
Also the definition of Love by Majime that remains in my note;
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