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These two siblings used to be close, but after their parents divorced, they began living with one of their parents, in faraway places. This is the issue that needs to be addressed in I Wish, the new movie by the Japanese master Hirokazu Kore-eda, who in my opinion, is one of the most gentle and wise filmmakers alive today. The film revolves around two real-life brothers who are so unpretentiously lively and delightful and one of the many joys of I Wish is watching them on screen.
At the age of 49 now, Kore-eda has expressed his concerns over the years through numerous affection-filled movies that we all can relate to. A common subject of his is the relationship between parents and children. You may remember his critically acclaimed movie After Life (1998), in which people who died are asked to film one selected moment from their life. Or the more heart-wrenching Nobody Knows (2004), which is about a group of children left all alone in an apartment and trying to take care of themselves while their mother is absent. Maborosi (1995) is about a young widow and her son that break my heart, and due to the fact that they move to some unknown, isolated coastal village.
In “I Wish,” he easily steps into Koichi (Koki Maeda), a 4th grader’s life and that of Ryunosuke (Ohshiro Maeda), who is a few years younger. These are blessed children. You cannot just tell young actors to “act happy”, and expect it to work. They have to in some basic way, be happy. Here, they are filled with the energy and hopes of childhood, their smiles are quick and open, laughter comes easily and they seem to sprint everywhere, almost as if they have forgotten how to walk.
His mother is where Koichi stays. Ryunosuke chooses to stay with his father, though neither boy’s reasoning is explored. They seem to communicate nonstop on their cell phones. Koichi’s town seemingly exists down the stream from a constantly rumbling volcano that erupts ash daily and which he seems to sweep every day. The part that strikes him is that no one, in his eyes, seems all too bothered about the volcano, even though an eruption would be catastrophic. “I do not get it.,” he says. He does not get a lot of things which might be his way of revealing concerns.
Koichi’s family stays with his grandfather and his mother. The grandfather spends almost the entire day smoking and playing cards with his friends. With everything going on, they seem to be a bit too absorbed in the fact that a new bullet train is about to arrive in town. Koichi has a fair understanding that this new train will directly connect the town with the city Ryunosuke lives in. The old men are already debating about operating a stand at the new train station which would sell the traditional bean cake restaurants. Tasting the tried and true recipes seems to have gotten old to them.
The boys become electrified when Koichi hears that at the moment when two 160-mph trains cross each other, a “magical field” is created which for some reason grants wishes. A few friends and Koichi decide to skip school and take a slow train to the point where the fast trains are supposed to cross and they will meet the brothers. Sure, this does sound risky, especially for children of such a small age, but thankfully the grandfather sides with them and helps the kids trick their teacher. There is a magic moment when all the children get to shout out their wishes.
That may have worked as a sentimental and even successful moment if this were a low-level film. Kore-eda’s focus is not on the moving gears of a plot, but rather on the sentiment-building emotions among these lives. The children, who were all set to embark on a fulfilling journey only to find out that it’s quite the opposite, undergo a completely different and life-altering change. The most intense and unexpected yet pleasurable part of the movie stems from the fact that it permits us to partake in the emotions that pull the strings of the plot.
Every cast member has the right tone, even the father (Joe Odagiri) who has not been able to pursue his dreams of being a rock star and tries to support his family. The brothers Maeda are massive treasures the film captures their joy in a way that seems effortless and unattainable at fully grasping and satisfying their dreams. Worries, separation, an erupting volcano, nothing can squash their hopes for now.
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