After watching Ryutaro Ninomiya’s Wakamusha, I asked myself if the alarm over Gen Z’s sense of alienation should be one of the more important issues we need to address today. Because the kids are not ok. A slice of life tale about a trio of friends, the film paints a troubling picture of young men in a Japanese city who show a keen awareness of their unhappiness but seem powerless to change it.
Ninomiya’s latest film reveals degrees of nihilism expressed by Wataru (Ryota Bando), an almost mute warehouse worker, Eiji (Rion Takahashi), a fiery restaurant employee, and Mitsunori (Naoya Shimizu), an orderly at an aged care facility. These childhood friends meet one afternoon to pay their respects to a friend who died while attempting to save another’s life. The boys — they hardly seem like men — express their frustration that the friend’s well-meaning actions resulted in his death as well as the person he attempted to save. In their minds, it’s yet another example of trying to do the right thing, only to fail.
Eiji acts out his anger by provoking strangers into confrontations that he frames as “reforming” society for the better. He attacks a muscle-bound smoker about the evils of smoking, practically lusting for fight. Later, he kisses Mitsunori in a public setting (they aren’t lovers), then harangues a couple of startled young women who make the mistake of commenting in passing. I cringed watching the scene, alarmed at Eiji’s ability to manipulate a situation until everyone, including the viewer, holds their breath, waiting for an explosion.
Mitsunori seems to be the most appealing of the three, but even he joins the harassment despite his irritation with Eiji and his unwanted advances. Meanwhile, Wataru watches and broods, unwilling to engage. Mitsunori’s constant needling and Wataru’s stoic indifference, lasts only so long. The explosive ending feels ambiguous although, in the context of despair and alienation felt by almost everyone, either meaning works. Ninomiya’s film is the story of young men expressing their anger with themselves and their society.
Ryutaro Ninomiya’s “Wakamusha” screens July 26 – 28, 2024 at Northwest Film Forum. 1515 – 12th Ave/ 206-329-2629 or go to http://nwfilmforum.org.
