Worth: $16.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Eiki Narita, Haruma Miura, Mikako Tabe, Taizo Harada
Intro:
…bolstered by a terrific cast, scripting from Isaka, and a very eclectic soundtrack, the film plays out almost as deconstruction of how romantic tropes are fetishised in cinema
Chance encounters are something of a cliché in films, particularly romances. There’s always some amount of contrivance behind the meeting, and the notion of it turning out to be a romantically ideal pairing is just part of the genre’s DNA. Some films play it straight, some films openly question the sheer probability behind such a meeting, and then there’s films like Rikiya Imaizumi’s Little Nights, Little Love, which manage to do both.
The plot itself is split in two parts, with the first hour and the last hour taking place a decade apart, and a lot of the film is comprised of these little chance encounters. On its own, that’s nothing new, but the framing and Kôtarô Isaka’s writing especially, draw attention to it: how a single moment can snowball into a long-lasting connection between two people, be it romantic, platonic, or just a poignant cameo in life’s narrative. The film actively points this out to highlight the need to count one’s blessings, since, to paraphrase Nick Hornby, we all have soulmates but we walk past them every day without even realising it.
However, it also points out that even though life is made of a lot of moments dependent on luck, relying solely on luck is ill-advised. In line with the film’s visual shorthand, it’s the difference between a punch made and a punch withheld.
Framed around the boxing career of Manabu Ono (Eiki Narita) – as if the romantic subplot in a sports movie Freaky Friday’d with the main action – Little Nights, Little Love emphasises that while there are a myriad of reasons why people are apprehensive about taking their chances with love, not only is every shot that isn’t made a shot that automatically misses, but even those misses can be learnt for the next round.
As bolstered by a terrific cast, a capital first shot at feature-film scripting from Isaka, and a very eclectic soundtrack that covers everything from jazz to electronica to the busker ballad that gives the film its name, Little Nights, Little Love plays out almost as deconstruction of how romantic tropes are fetishised in cinema. It sketches out a parable about chance encounters and the people involved in them, and that neither element should be taken for granted. It’s clear-eyed but without cynicism, taking into account the odds stacked against those seeking love… but still admitting that it’s worth the risk.
