SYNOPSIS:
Chie
(Nana Eikura) is a 'companion' – a young woman hired
to speak in a public-relations role at corporate events. One
day, while at work, she mistakenly ends up in the wrong auditorium.
Through this minor professional mishap, she encounters a young
salary-man by the name of Taro (Eita). The blossoming romance
between Chie & Taro proceeds quickly, and soon Taro is
talking of marriage. Chie, however, is hiding something…
she has just received the most devastating news of her life
– Chie has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Knowing
that she has only a short time to live, Taro, her family and
her friends secretly plan a magnificent wedding…
MOVIE REVIEW:
Back in 2007, Chie Nagashima, a young Japanese
lady who was suffering from breasts cancer made a documentary
about her plight and her fight against cancer. She helped
create awareness for young females around her age about this
deadly disease. The documentary followed her struggles against
this disease and the April wedding that her husband, Taro
Akasu threw for her.
Personally it was a rather difficult documentary
to watch as it was filled with overwhelming emotions to watch
Chie put on a sunny overlook in life while fighting a losing
battle. It bears the hallmarks of how unfair life can be for
those who have so much to look forward to and yet faced with
the burden of a terrible illness. Watching the suppressed
emotions of family, love ones and friends around Chie had
a choking effect on me and it draws out the painful emotions
of watching love one withering away while being helplessness
about it.
While the documentary already packed an emotional
punch of it's own, the movie was able to present moments that
the documentary could not capture. It recounts how Taro and
Chie first met and how they started their romance. It shows
the simple pleasure that they did such as cycling around the
streets, meeting up with friends and preparing for dinner.
The mundane stuff that a normal couple usually does but those
are the special little moments that one will miss when they
lose their partner.
April Bride gave us to the heart wrenching
moments in the hospital ward when the documentary camera crew
weren't around or it was too insensitive to proceed on with
filming. It gave us a heartfelt moment when Chie's father
thanked Taro privately while Chie was out celebrating her
birthday. In short, April Bride should be a foolproof tearjeker
film for anyone with a beating heart but this is not so.
One MX reviewer listed April Bride as one
of the worst movie that rob him a certain amount of hours
and minutes in 2009. Another reviewer's girlfriend also complained
that it's kinda slow and dragging it's feet with what was
expected from an Asian tearjerker film.
On retrospect, April Bride does contain scenes
in which nothing much happen but it's not as bad as those
artistic long take still shot. Personally, those slow moments
gave a nice time out in the movie plot to contemplate on the
fate and emotions that these two characters had to go through.
The still shots were also skillfully framed to capture the
essence of those thoughtful moments.
Coupled
by a fine performance from Eita Nagayama and Nana Eikura as
Taro Akasu and Chie Nagashima, April Bride gave an enchanting
perspective of what had sadly transpired. While the documentary
was able to give us a more raw emotions to Chie's fight against
the disease, April Bride complements by celebrating the love
shared between Taro and Chie. In my opinion, April Bride is
one of the top 10 movies of 2009 and shouldn't be missed.
SPECIAL FEATURES :
Cast
Greetings - The Cast Greetings in April Bride presents
one of the rare surprises found in a local DVD special features.
The leading actor and actress of April Bride actually made
a greeting speech specially for the Singapore audience before
the moment was edited with a generic greetings for this movie.
However Kudos must be given to whoever that made the effort
to secure the stars into mentioning Singapore in their opening
speech. It's little things like this that matters.
Cast
Interview - Eita Nagayama and Nana Eikura gave an
interview on what they felt about portraying the real life
Taro and Chie. They touch on working process with the Director
and the actual Taro Akasu. While this segment didn't reveal
much interesting information about the making of this film,
it would seems that the actor and actress had been emotionally
caught up with the real life events. Especially Nana Eikura
who broke down a couple of time while recollecting about the
movie. Personally, this interview felt rather long and dreary
but to see actors becoming so emotionally invested in their
characters and how strong they felt about a movie brought
a smile to my face as it's heartwarming to discover that the
actors didn't just took this movie up as another work project.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
This
DVD gave a fine presentation of April Bride on a normal TV.
From the lush green forest trip that Chie took to the sweet
nothings that Chie and Taro shared on the hospital bed, the
Dvd was dutifully able to transport the viewers into their
short and sweet moments together.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Richard Lim Jr
Posted
on 1 February 2010
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