One of the golden rules of screenwriting is that the most satisfying stories have a strong character arc. By the time the end credits roll, a movie¡¯s protagonist may have changed for the better or worse, but there needs to be a sense of progression.
The films of Rikiya Imaizumi tend not to follow that logic. His 2018 romantic drama, ¡°Just Only Love,¡± ended with its heroine still pining after the same flaky guy, having clearly failed to learn her lesson. Last year¡¯s ¡°Over the Town¡± revolved around a slacker who seemed entirely dependent on the whims of the women in his life.
The director¡¯s latest, ¡°By the Window¡± (stylized in lower case), is another study in passivity. Its protagonist, Shigemi (played by Goro Inagaki), is a talented but unproductive writer who discovers that his wife is having an affair ¡ª and is shocked to realize that he isn¡¯t all that fussed.
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