Film review from Locarno 2019: 'To the Ends of the Earth'
The pleasingly zigzag career of Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa takes yet another leftfield turn with, commissioned to mark the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between his homeland and the central Asian republic of Uzbekistan. An unpredictable, freewheeling affair which semi-humorously chronicles the wanderings and misadventures of a Japanese TV presenter compiling a travelogue about the landlocked country, the gentle-paced odyssey was quite warmly received as the closer at Locarno.
The front-and-center presence of J-pop icon Atusko Maeda, formerly of mega-selling girl group AKB48, is the major domestic selling point. Elsewhere it's more of a festival title — that circuit, where Kurosawa's works have been welcomed since his 1990s J-horror era , and more recently via the likes ofNot that this is in any way a conventional homage to the spectacular landscapes of an off-the-beaten-track nation.
A perky pro on camera Yoko is in her private life a complex character keen to expand her emotional and geographical limits. The film finds considerable humor in the contrast between the two sides of her personality as she negotiates a tricky career crossroads. At two crucial junctures we accompany her into the realm of fantasy.
At each step of the way the film convincingly evokes various milieus with documentary-style verisimilitude: it really does feel like Maeda/Yoko is stumbling haphazardly from one real setting to another, in a film expertly cast down the to the tiniest of roles. Particularly good value in this regard is hulking Yunusjon Asqarov, who exudes genuine screen presence in his fleeting appearances as a short-tempered fisherman on Lake Aydar, recruited by Yoko's crew as they seek evidence of a probably mythical fish.
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