Film Review PETER BOND
お引越し (1993) SHINJI SOMAI Ren is moving, whether
1993’s お引越し (Moving)
she likes it or not. Her father
comes as a late career entry into
has left the house, the divorce
Shinji Soumai’s filmography.
papers are soon to be signed,
His films are difficult to track
and her mother is drafting
down and have not gained a
new rules for them to live
ton of notoriety in the west.
by. These realities settle in
However Soumai has a varied
throughout the film, some
and intriguing body of work.
far more painful than others.
Moving is a story of divorce,
Sometimes she keeps moving,
centering primarily on 5th
and other times she has to
grader Ren who confronts
lay down in the ashes of what
the challenges of divorce
she left behind. The pains of
through the film. Tomoko
growing up, and bearing the
Tabata anchors the movie with
weight of what she didn’t ask
her dynamic and effortless
for are only beginning to fall
performance as the 11 year
on her shoulders. Yet, she
old.
moves all the same. Walking,
Set
in
a
tranquil,
running and in the very end
domestic Kyoto, Ren is being
with a jovial stroll through
pulled by mother and father,
those in her life.
and between times in her life.
