Ritual

A live-action film directed by the anime director Hideaki Anno. A filmmaker returns to his home town. He has been unable to work for a long time and does not know what to do. Walking through an abandoned industrial district he sees a girl: she is standing alone on the rails and tells him tomorrow is her birthday. The next day she says it again. And the day after. She repeats it every day, and the filmmaker steps into the loop. The narrative spans thirty-three days. The man takes his camera and starts filming her; it becomes the only way of communicating. The subject is creative blockage and loneliness. Both are trapped inside arrangements of their own making and look for a way out through each other. Visually it is highly particular: the use of colour, empty factories, standing water and recurring reds. The source is a novella written by Ayako Fujitani, who plays the girl. Another director plays the filmmaker: Shunji Iwai. It was produced by a company attached to Studio Ghibli. An interesting production for anyone who likes Japanese cinema and formal experiment. For a viewer expecting a plot, the film describes almost nothing and the pace is very slow.