¡°Opposites attract¡± is one of those truisms easy to dismiss ¡ª until they turn out to be true. Take the sensitive, arty beta-male guy whose sensitive, arty female soulmate ends up with an alpha-male cowboy ¡ª or the nearest urban equivalent. Also, the attraction of opposites is not always mutual: Would that famous, talented beauty you ask to pose with average-Jane you for a selfie ever ask you to do the same? Maybe not.
The central relationship in Natsuka Kusano¡¯s debut feature ¡°Rasen Ginga (Antonym)¡± seems to fit the latter template. Aya (Yuri Ishizaka) is one of those fashionable women who exude arrogance even when strap-hanging on the morning commute. Meanwhile, her co-worker Sachiko (Asami Shibuya) is a gawky introvert who is perpetually apologizing for her existence. Sachiko admires Aya for her ambition to become a scriptwriter, though she is only attending a night class. Aya, who has yet to sell any of her scripts, reacts to Sachiko¡¯s praise with barely disguised scorn.
The winner of the Nippon Visions Award at last year¡¯s Nippon Connection film festival (which this writer co-presented as a jury member), the aptly titled ¡°Antonym¡± may sound like a clash-of-opposites comedy, but it tells its story with a completely straight face. The result is a fresh, incisive take on a common if little-filmed type of relationship, especially in hierarchy-loving Japan.
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