Over the fence (2016)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2016
	Director: Yamashita Nobuhiro
	Actors: Odagiri Joe, Aoi Yu
	Country: J
	Genre: Romance, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 24.04.2017, Teatro nuovo, FEFF2017, Japanese with English subtitle
Synopsis: After his divorce, Shiraiwa Yoshio (Odagiri Joe) goes back to his home town, alone and adrift. He attends a carpentry course at Hakodate vocation school and prepares for softball matches with the other fellows. When a fellow carpenter brings him to a club, a waitress catches his eye because she imitates birds and because he saw her already in the street arguing with a man. Satoshi (Aoi Yu) is free-minded despite signs of unstability.
Review: The plot sounds quite common. Yamashita is both realist as all the places where something happens are properly reflected and gives this authentic atmosphere; and surrealist as what happens is presented as realistic but is very uncommon. Mostly due to the crazy personality of Satoshi. Therefore some scenes appear to me as magic as L'écume des jours by Michel Gondry, but without any special effect.  The relationship has this irresistible beauty of the controlled crazyness and freedom of being romantic and dreamer with all what we have in our environment. When this crazyness goes too far, it makes huge drama for both characters. But the passion for each other is palpable. Thanks to both main actors. Odagiri Joe is amazing and catch one's sympathy like in his other movies, In the pool and Adrift in Tokyo by Miki Satoshi. Aoi Yu fits to her role perfectly. She is never predictable and this makes her charm all along the movie.  The directing is very well thought to feel the limit of the local social conventions and when something special happens. The scenery, the image composition gives these impressions of quietness or disruption. I loved this style of aesthetics.
Rating: 8 /10