Halfway (2009)

I enjoyed this. The story is sometimes silly, sometimes adorable, at the rare moment smart. The only thing I did not like was the camera work — mostly handheld (transitional shots seemed to be the only still moments), close-ups, jump cuts, &c. Not that it was bad — on the whole it looked beautiful (as Japan always does on camera), but I would have liked it so much more if I had the chance to properly look at everything rather than see it in dizzy glimpses. (‘Dizzy glimpses’ is perhaps unfair, as there are plenty of long takes, but those tend to be nonphotogenic conversations. This is fairly typical for this style, though.) Finally, the incomplete conversation that ends the film is most intriguing, and I am left feeling curious and amused.