the gulf
by
Douglas Messerli
Abbas
Kiarostami (writer and director) ライク・サムワン・イン・ラブ Raiku Samuwan in Rabu (Like Someone in Love) / 2012, USA
(general release) 2013
When
Howard asked me the other day what I was watching, I responded “A
French-produced film in Japanese by Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami.” He
simply shook his head, a bit in disbelief.
The poor girl, Akiko (Rin Takanashi), is
not only attempting to balance school with her nightly activities, but is
trying to break off a relationship with her garage mechanic boyfriend, Noriaki (Ryo Kase), who has become increasing
controlling and is now demanding that they be married.
Noriaki is angry because, having not
told him of her life-style, Akiko has obviously been lying and turning off her
cellphone during evenings so that he cannot reach her. Indeed, the film begins
with Akiko’s voice on her cellphone as she attempts to convince Noriaki that
she is in another establishment with her friend Nagisa (Reiko Mori) instead of being
in the café out of which Hiroshi works. She is not very convincing, even though
part of what she says, that her grandmother is visiting and that she must cram
for a test the following morning, is true.
Hiroshi shuttles her off in a taxi, while
Akiko plays back her cellphone messages, most of them from her pleading
grandmother waiting for her at the Tokyo train station. Demanding the taxi
driver take her past the station, she spots her waiting grandmother, which
brings tears to her (and our) eyes. There is no place for family loyalty and
love in her current life.
The two fall into a comfortable
conversation, but soon after she retires to the bedroom expecting him to join
her. It is clear, however, that all Takashi has been seeking is a dinnertime
companion and conversation. He stays up along, drinking wine and listening to
American love songs, including the film’s title-piece “Like Someone in Love.”
Having little to do each day, he offers
to take her to the university (where he also taught) and even waits for her to
finish her exam, so that he might drive her to a bookstore for a new text.
Observing the waiting elder, Noriaki
insists that he enter the car, where the two have a somewhat testy
conversation. Presuming that Takashi is his girlfriend’s grandfather, he
attempts to talk about his love for Akiko and ask, offhandedly, for permission
to marry her.
Without revealing his true identity,
Takashi attempts to dissuade him from the idea, arguing that Noriaki does not
yet know enough about love, suggesting that only when he can stop demanding
Takashi tell him where she is at all moments, will he be truly ready for a
relationship.
After finishing her test, Akiko,
obviously surprised by Norikai’s presence, joins them in the back seat, the
boyfriend saying he will off along the way. Soon after, however, the boy hears
a ping in the steering mechanism, and asks the elderly man to pull over.
Looking under the hood he sees that the fan belt is about to break and argues
that he should stop by his garage so that he can immediately fix it.
Noriaki calls ahead to order up the
part, and expertly repairs the car, but at the last moment another customer
pulls up, recognizing Takashi has his former professor. Although Takashi can
assure Akiko that he has kept their secret, she cannot be certain that the
other man will not now explain to Noriaki who the driver of the car has really
been.
In fact, she has reason for fear, and
soon after she enters the bookstore is confronted again by the angry boyfriend,
who this time brutally belts her in the eye. We do not see their encounter,
only observing a crying Akiko after the fact, who calls Takashi, who, having
just returned home, drives back into the city to pick up, taking her once again
to his apartment for safety.
By
this time we certainly realize that, if Takashi has not fallen in love with the
young girl, he has taken on the role of her protector, and proffers her a
different kind of love that she has apparently not had since she has left her
small village.
By this time, however, Noriaki has
followed them to Takashi’s house and loudly demands that Akiko come out.
Takashi quiet locks the door, but hearing a loud noise outside, goes to the
window only to be hit by a missile Noriaki has hurled through the window. The
screen goes black.
If nothing else, the great director reminds
us, once more—both through the visiting grandmother and Takashi—that, even with
all their wisdom, the old cannot truly “help” the young after a certain age.
The problems they face will always be of another time, or, as one of the Jets
of West Side Story argues against the
ministrations of Doc, “You were never my age!”
This elegiac film reveals the gulf
between young and old, along with the helpless isolation and loneliness of the
individuals on both sides. Any attempt to reach out can only be perceived as a
simile, “like someone in love,”
instead of actually offering a direct commitment. As even Takashi realizes,
through the ridiculous sophistry of the famous Doris Day song, “Que sera sera /
Whatever will be will be."
Los Angeles,
November 26, 2016
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