Fireflies River of Light

Fireflies River of Light (Japan), 2003
Directed by Hiroshi Sugawara
starring Yukiyosho Ozawa (Hajime Miwa, the teacher), Risako Sugaya (Hikari the quiet girl), Koji Yakusyo (Hajime's inspiring teacher)



One of those very rare occasions that I got to watch a film all by myself, I literally mean, all ALONE. It feels as though the whole theatre belongs to me and me alone, and the characters from the film talks to me directly. It is magical in a way. When a bird's eye view of Tokyo city flooded the opening scene of the film, with it's blue hue and dotted by a single glowing green dot flying over the city sky scrapers, it already captured my interest. It is from that moment on, we follow the journey of a young male teacher, following his dream to pursue a completely different career than what he is having now - to becoming an elementary school teacher, out in a small town village of Japan. Here, you will not see what we usually see of a bustling city life overly crowded with people and machines, but only the wonders of truly intriguing formations of rice fields , the meandering mountain dusty roads, the running streams that is slowly polluted by wastes deposited by the villagers themselves. Most of all, it is the mesmerizing landscapes sculptured by mother nature that would leave you breathless. Of course, the old wooden elementary school is already a character by itself.

The story is simple, no doubt about it, but it is how it is done that we would gradually come to understand the characters more, to be able to empathize with them and ultimately follow their journey to making the fireflies fly - a reality. I especially adore Hikari's character for she plays the part absolutely well. I have also come to realize how much expectations (sometimes too much and absurd ones) we put onto teachers to "educate" and "discipline" our children in school when I personally think that the most important education a child can have is right at home, from their own parents. I left the film with a heartfelt feeling (for it has a big pay off at the end of the film. Aren't we all mainstream audience after all?), but most of all, some of the most vivid images I brought back from the film were scenes of school children running together, in a unite rhythmic pattern, Hajime riding off in a beautiful sunset on his mountain bike, Hajime walking Hiraki back home, in awkward silent moments and an unforgettable nostalgic feeling the film creates in me. All these is worth all the time that one can spend, on a lazy Friday afternoon. At times, I wonder, why most of us go for mainstream Hollywood films when International screens have equally impressive stories to tell, at times, much more to offer? I guess Malaysian audiences have to go beyond what we usually expect from a film.