Sway (2006)

This movie didn't get me into an emotional state right away like say Odagiri's Tokyo Tower, or the fuzzy feeling of another of Odagiri movie Adrift in Tokyo (yup big time fan of the guy :P). However it did stay in my mind for a few days, so I can figure out how I felt about it and how I can understand the ending.

Sway is about 2 very different brothers who never came into terms with how they feel about each other. Even though the events of the show are very intense and we can even say extreme, but this type of feeling between siblings can exist in any type of family (talking from personal experience here :P). The older one (Minoru) who carry the burden to stay in his hometown and not let his father down. He's the peace maker of the family. The younger brother (Takeru) was the one that wanted to get out of his family's control and change his fate. I think he just didn't want to end up like his brother, and wanted an individualistic, materialistic lifestyle (offered by today's capitalism). In the middle was the hometown girl. From what I gather, she was a girl that lived comfortably until she was laid off. She was afraid of change so she had refused to leave town for the big city. When she lost her job, her sole living family moved on in life, she found herself alone.

Here where it all comes into play. Minoru begrudges his existence, thinks that lil bro is only in it for himself and nothing more. He has low self esteem to the point of never confessing to the woman he loves. Takeru hates everything his hometown represents, which makes him disdain what his older brother represents. He just couldn't get over the fact that he ex might end up with his older brother, so he ended up pursuing her without any intend for a long term relationship. He feels hollow and never satisfied with anything. She, at this point in her life, had similar fears to Takeru. She just wants out, and doesn't want to become another Minoru, and she looked at Takeru as her ticket out. I found all 3 were profound characters, very selfish and very human.

An accident happen that changes their fates forever and makes them face all their decisions they made up to now and what went wrong with them. I think each one of us has a bit of Minoru, or a bit of Takeru, or even a bit of both.

I don't need to mention about the acting here, we have an all talented cast carefully casted. Some goes for the directing with all its subtlety. I think whats amazing about this movie is that we begin to appreciated, at least in my case, not while watching it or as soon as its done, but after a long while, when you realize that its still there in the back of your mind.

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