Having been literally astounded at the glory and beauty of Aoyama's film "yurika" I was very much looking forward to Sad Vacation. I ended up at the Oslo International Film Festival with a free ticket and 2 friends who wanted to watch My Blueberry Nights. I managed to convince them to watch Sad Vacation.
There I sat in the darkness of the cinema watching a film unfold that had some stark moments of beauty (when tadanobu floats down the river) and some great shots. However, the film seemed muddled, over-thought out, incoherent. The stories crossed over, the explanations were not always complete.
The ending happened to be one of the silliest and most bizarre things ever witnessed on film, which is perhaps the reason for it, but it didn't seem like a fitting end to me.
Overall I would not rate this as a bad movie. Its just that when you have seen what Aoyama is capable of it feels like he betrays you a little. Perhaps thats down to high expectations, perhaps you are hoping for another "eureka".. perhaps.
All I know is that this film didn't capture me. I doubt very much I would give it a second viewing either because there was nothing that drew me back to it after I had seen it.
Let it just drift on as a forgotten movie by a fantastically talented director who hopefully pulls up his socks and knocks us out with the next one.
Plot summary
Kenji, abandoned by his mother, scrapes out a meager existence doing odd jobs including driving bar hostesses and their customers home. Besides this he takes care of the sister of an old friend in jail and a young illegal immigrant. But his life reaches a turning point when he happens to meet Chiyoko, his long lost mother. She is now married to Mamiya, the owner of an express package delivery service. They also have a teenage son, Yusuke. Subdued feelings of alarm, discomfort and resentment between Chiyoko, Kenji, and his half brother Yusuke hide underneath and are seemingly caused by the inseparable blood ties that seem to wield control over everyone's destiny. Is blood that powerful? What exactly defines a mother or a father? While Kenji struggles with these questions and attempts to escape his fate, Chiyoko seems content to let these issues unfold and find a solution. Where will it ultimately lead them?
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A sad departure from the glory of Eureka
Sequel!
Although it's not stated in this entry, 'Sad Vacation' (2007) is a continuation of Kenji's story, which begins with Aoyama's earlier work, 'Helpless' (1996).
I was happy that 'Sad Vacation' was made because I really did wonder what would happen to him after The End. Were he be able to retain a sense of humanity after shedding his life in 'Helpless'? So many questions. And finally, 'Sad Vacation' provides these answers. Some I found satisfying and some I didn't. Some characters from 'Helpless' appear in this sequel, such as Yuri.
Overall, 'Sad Vacation' doesn't really work well as a standalone, particularly for those who haven't seen 'Helpless' yet. For those who have seen the prequel, 'Sad Vacation' is somewhat anti-climactic, but still worth seeing.