Movie Review River's Edge (2018)

 

River's Edge (original title: Ribâzu ejji) | 2018 | 1h 58m
Genre: Coming-of-Age/Teen Drama/Crime/Drama | Country: Japan
Director: Isao Yukisada | Writers: Kyôko Okazaki, Misaki Setoyama
Cast: Fumi Nikaidô, Ryô Yoshizawa, Aoi Morikawa
IMDB: 6.2
My Rating: 9/10

The emptiness each of them feels makes Haruna and Yamada become close friends, but also traps them in a complex secret and relationship.

Warning:

Contains scenes of violence, sex, nudity, strong language, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and LGBT themes.

 

Synopsis of River's Edge:

Haruna Wakagusa (Fumi Nikaido), a high school student who has trouble expressing her feelings. She's dating Kannonzaki (Shuhei Uesugi), who can only express himself through sex and violence due to a lack of attention from his family. Additionally, Haruna also becomes close to Ichiro Yamada (Ryo Yoshizawa), who is a victim of Kannonzaki's bullying. This makes Kannonzaki jealous and even worse in his bullying.

Yamada, a loner who doesn't have many friends. He hides a secret about his sexual orientation, being gay. To cover this up, he dates Kanna Tajima (Aoi Morikawa), who is actually obsessed with Yamada. The only one who knows who Yamada really likes is Kozue Yoshikawa (Sumire), a model who suffers from bulimia and is Yamada's underclassman.

Yamada takes Haruna to see his 'treasure' that he's hiding, a skull from a corpse hidden in the tall grass near the river. This treasure is also what makes Yamada close to Kozue. They both have quite complex feelings about the presence of the corpse. Haruna is initially shocked, but understands the feelings that Kozue and Yamada feel, to the point that she considers the skull to be important to their lives.

Haruna becomes close to Yamada and Kozue. Only, this causes a misunderstanding in Kanna and Kannonzaki's minds. They think that Yamada and Haruna have a 'romantic' relationship. Kanna even does something beyond reason. While Kannonzaki cheats on Haruna's close friend, Rumi (Shiori Dori), without Haruna's knowledge.

Will their teenage lives end well?

 

Review of River's Edge:

River's Edge is adapted from the manga series of the same name by Kyoko Okazaki, published in 1993-1994. Unlike typical teenage stories that might focus more on romance and the beauty of youth, the story idea presented is more on the dark side of teenage life. Where teenagers are in their search for identity and the problems they face, it's hard to understand the path they want to achieve.

Each character has their own dark side and secrets. All presented very well and not overlapping. Each character has their own spotlight and becomes a compelling whole to watch. Although, for some people, it might be a bit boring because of the slow-paced story and narrative.

The acting from the cast is pretty good, not stiff, and the chemistry between the actors is also built well. Cinematography, camera movement, color composition, and music selection are also done well. What's interesting is the opening and closing scenes that seem to be a reflection of each other.

However, there's something a little confusing, which is the scene where the characters are interviewed. Maybe it's made so that viewers can understand the thoughts and background of the characters. Only, it looks a bit strange, because there's no clarity about who's doing the interview and for what purpose. It seems like something that doesn't blend in with the story.

Overall, this film successfully portrays another side that might be ignored by most people. That every teenager can also live with problems that make them lose their way. In this film, it's also seen that adults often don't care about this, seen from the lack of adult roles in what they experience.

 
Memorable Scene:

Yamada, trusting Haruna, takes her to the field near the river where he keeps an unexpected 'treasure'. A skull from a rotting corpse becomes something valuable to Yamada, reminding him that he's still alive. In this scene, we see Yamada experience a lot of bitterness in his life, finding meaning in life just by looking at the corpse he found.

 

Memorable Dialogue:

"It’s serve you right"

 

Ending:

Sad Ending

 

Recommendation:

Must Watch.

 

(Aluna)