Dear Friends

Kazuyuki Morosawa's 2007 Japanese film is about a popular and cruel high school girl. Rina is beautiful, everyone wants to be near her and she uses that as power, humiliating her friends, using boys and valuing nobody. When she is diagnosed with a serious illness she sees how empty all the relationships around her are, and the only person who stays is an old friend she treated badly years ago. The film tells that change directly and emotionally; the intent to teach a lesson is plain and the character's past behaviour is offered up for forgiveness through her illness. The story follows the familiar shape of Japanese youth drama. Keiko Kitagawa stars. Who it's for: viewers who like Japanese youth melodrama. Who it's not for: anyone who dislikes emotional narratives built on illness; the film puts it at the centre.