River

The staff of an old inn in Kyoto go back to the beginning every two minutes. Nobody knows why; the two minutes run out and everyone finds themselves in the same place again. Their memories are not erased but kept, so that as the loop proceeds everyone knows more than they did before. The staff panic first and then try to be systematic. Junta Yamaguchi directs from a screenplay by Makoto Ueda. It was made by Europe Kikaku, a theatre company based in Kyoto; the same team had made Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, and this followed it. The form is the actual idea. Every two minute section is constructed as one take and the camera never cuts; the actors have to repeat the same movements differently in each loop. This is a very low budget film and does not hide it: one inn, a few rooms, a small cast. The whole effect comes from timing. The comedy comes from repetition. The same scene returning slightly changed, the characters growing impatient, and everyone getting more tired with each loop carry the humour. The narrative resolves somewhere emotional at the end, tying the cause of the loop to one character's private matter. Who it is for: viewers who like low budget Japanese independent comedy and the time loop idea. Who it is not for: the structure repeats, the characters are thin, and the idea starts repeating itself after a while.