By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Hikari
Starring: Makiko Watanabe | Mei Kayama | Minori Hagiwara | Nanami Kawakami
Original language title: 37 Sekanzu
Country: japan
Year: 2020
Running time: 115
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6156138/reference
Michael says: “I am sometimes wary of films that explore characters living with physical disabilities, as they often come across as too syrupy and sentimental. Japanese director Hikari, who wrote, directed, and produced 37 SECONDS doesn’t over-sentimentalize the story of Yuma, a young woman living with cerebral palsy, or rather, she give her story just the right amount of sentiment that makes the film work as a powerful and emotional exploration into family dynamics. Yuma is in her early 20’s, lives with her mother, and makes a living writing and drawing a successful manga comic. She manages her life well, despite her living with cerebral palsy that requires her to use a wheelchair to navigate. Her mother tends to be oversolicitous, to the point of treating her daughter as a helpless child, even when Yuma would like some independence. When Yuma grows frustrated because her friend, an outgoing and attractive social media influencer, gets all the credit for her comic, and Yuma herself remains hidden in the background, she sends her work out under her own name to their publisher. Her work is rejected because it’s too similar to the work she does under her friend’s name. Yuma boldly tries her hand at x-rated comics to distance herself from the genre she has been working in, and while the publisher admires her work, she also tells Yuma that it lacks the life experience needed to draw the sex scenes.
“Realizing that she is an adult, and could benefit from experience, Yuma ventures out into the nightlife of the city and after an aborted attempt to lose her virginity with a mail escort, she meets a woman who works exclusively with men with disabilities, who helps her to navigate a new independence, much to her mother’s dismay. Mother and daughter tensions arise and build to a major argument which forces Yuma to run away and do some searching for her father who left when she was a baby. Family secrets emerge and lead to a new awareness for Yuman.
“Some have criticized 37 SECONDS for focusing too heavily on Yuma’s struggle with her condition, that there is more to the character than her cerebral palsy, but I think they’re missing the point. Of course, the fact that Yuma does not receive the credit she deserves for the wildly successful comic she writes and draws could be attributed to many things; but in the case of this story, a large part of that is because she is dealing with a condition that has allowed her friend to be the “face” of the comic, taking credit for Yuma’s work and keeping her in the background. The family struggle that emerges is also something that could apply to anyone, but are heightened by Yuma’s condition. Hikari does a great job keeping the gloss off the story, presenting Yuma’s struggle for independence in a raw, uncompromising light, and while the final third of the film may be more than the story needs, it’s a powerful and emotional storyline that is both revealing and satisfying. I was greatly moved by this story, and thought performances technical aspects were all well executed. Both Mei Kayama, a young actress with cerebral palsy, and Misuzu Kanno, who plays her mother put in terrific performances that are nomination worthy. 4.5 cats”