[1st viewing on 9/2/2025]

Using an estranged love story to serve a subtext of Japan's post war trauma is pretty advanced stuff to do for a directorial debut, especially when it's just 6 years after the war.

{1st viewing on 1/2/2025}

Because I was bored on Chinese New Year.

[1st Viewing on 12/1/21 at Netflix]

What could have been a Malaysian The Case of Benjamin Button meets Forrest Gump turns into a movie of gimmicks. The 3D is a gimmick. The aging is a gimmick (realizing it only when you've been living for 55 years without noticing everyone else aging beside you except your long lost girlfriend is giving me the same reactions when Budi finds out about it). The interracial love story is a gimmick (to a horrible love song). The wink at history is a gimmick. The ending being the worst gimmick of them all.

[1st Viewing on 27/2/21 at Mubi]

I know there's a dark coming-of-age story here about growing into the darker side of manhood, only to realize it too late (and the child actor is really good at playing a little bitch), but I couldn't stop thinking about how they filmed the dog fights (the championship fight almost felt like a cop out), and how many (if any) dog doubles they used during production.

If that isn't obvious enough, content warning for animal violence.