俺俺 in Udine

Watching the trailer of “It's me It's me”, I thought 'this movie is going to be really weird and funny - typical Japanese humor'. At first I thought this would be a movie about the phone scam, as it's a real matter in Japan, but I couldn't quite see how Hitoshi multiplying would be relevant then. In all honesty, I really didn't know what to expect. Seeing Kamenashi-san multiplying was, above all, really amusing - and let's not lie, a dream come true for his loving fans. This leads to my biggest worry: I was afraid of being biased and forcing myself to like the movie just because of Kamenashi-san being the main character. But it was nothing like that.

Reaction to the screening

The first half of the movie was absolutely hilarious. I was sitting next to the media and about two seats from Kamenashi-san and I was able to witness all of their reactions. During funny moments, I would see them all shake with laughter - just like I did. It was overwhelming seeing the movie being so successful.

Once the movie goes deeper into what Hitoshi multiplying actually involves, when things start getting bad and the other Hitoshis start disappearing, I think Miki-san, the director, tried to express how messy the situation was getting, how confused and lost Hitoshi was, but I think his intentions didn't exactly fall through. It got pretty repetitive, had an unnecessary accumulation of the same type of scenes… It kind of messed up the rhythm and, even if indeed it felt like Hitoshi would never come out of his misery - the initial point of the repetitiveness (maybe?)-, that sequence was too long. I also witnessed some changes in the reaction of the audience: I think people started wondering where this was all going and not really seeing the end of it.

But as soon as the movie caught up with the initial plot, leading to the evident denouement, the rhythm was right again. It all sped up. You are then caught into the sudden acceleration, the suspense, and I was dying to find out how it was going end. I almost forgot to blink as I didn't want to miss any of it.

At some point I started thinking of the movie "Inception". It's the kind of movies that give you hints and evidences from the beginning and by the end, you realize how important some details were, how everything suddenly makes so much sense, and you feel some kind of relief because, as frustrated as you might have felt, you finally know. It can be tricky dealing with this kind of effects but Miki-san handled this very well.

Deeper into the movie

When the movie started I almost immediately identified with Hitoshi; living a normal life, having a normal job, never earning enough, putting dreams aside and losing ambition. When you think about it, your daily life almost always makes you forget what you really want and thus who you really are. You have to adapt to others' expectations and to their lifestyles in order to fit in. But it wasn't enough for Hitoshi. His life was lacking excitement and it was making him unhappy. That's why when he got the opportunity, he took it without thinking too much.

You can see the exact moment he starts being someone else. Committing such a crime was too much for him. He became self-conscious, scared, worried. He couldn't do anything anymore without fearing someone would catch him. It was so overwhelming that he wanted to give up and admit everything and go back to his life, as boring and plain as it was. But you can't just get away with it. Actions have consequences and repercussions. What started as a really selfish action became bigger than Hitoshi himself. Something he couldn't control anymore, because as soon as you start thinking only about yourself, you immediately and negatively involve others.

Through the movie, I thought of Sartre's saying "L'enfer, c'est les autres" (Hell is other people'). Hitoshi is surrounded by so many other people and he thinks life has become hell until he realizes that the others are himself and are making him go through hell. He should have known he was enough. When you can't appreciate who you are, when you've lost track of who you are, you start hating others, or your own life. Once Hitoshi realizes his mistake and tries to make amends by fixing the situation, he simply goes back to being himself and no longer questions it. That's when he finds happiness and understands that no one else could be him, just like he could never be anyone else.

The other characters - especially Uchida Yuki's character - reflect how no matter how lost we can sometimes get, there's always something reminding us of who we are, sort of like our anchor to reality.

Miki Satoshi explained during the press conference in Udine how important the scenery had been in the movie. For those who haven't seen the movie or who haven't been in Japan before, if you're expecting anything like Tokyo - a very crowded, noisy and busy city - you might be disappointed. However, for this kind of movie where the characters hold such importance, having such a quiet, simple and neutral place as the main setting is very enjoyable. The lack of identity allows you to set your imagination free. It could be just anywhere after all. It makes the whole identifying with Hitoshi and his world even easier. Because it could be you, losing yourself.

Conclusion

It is most certainly a one-of-a-kind movie. Not knowing what to expect but being brought into this fantastic and surreal world that Miki Satoshi invented, creates a real roller coaster of new emotions. You kind of go on a journey into a different universe where you can't help questioning yourself - who you really are.

A simple summary might not make you want to watch the movie straight away but this is the kind of movies that typically inspires curiosity. It may appear as a weird comedy but it actually goes much deeper into the very question of identity. It was actually described as a 'dark comedy' several times.

Kamenashi-san's work in this movie was humongous. Not only was he the lead role, but he had 32 other characters to play. I was very worried about the outcome but I was very pleased with his skills. Having seen all his previous work, I was already aware of his potential but this is probably his best work so far. And I'm hoping he will get to work in such amazing projects in the future. Contrary to what people might think, this movie is not about him even though he righteously made it into a piece of art.

To conclude, I would say this might not be the best movie I've seen, but it certainly was entertaining, very interesting and masterfully performed.