The Cinematheque

“Perhaps Iwai’s most earnest depiction of first love, perfectly capturing a snapshot of life’s many wonders and mysteries.”

Alexander Fee, Japan Society

Between his wildly ambitious Swallowtail Butterfly and All About Lily Chou-Chou, Iwai Shunji made a wondrous film—just barely over an hour—that builds an entire world without any genre revision or tragic violence. Love Letter was set in Hokkaido; in April Story, protagonist Uzuki (Matsu Takako) leaves that northern province to head far south to Tokyo for university. The film is idyllically set during cherry blossom season, but its development tracks the smallest slights and anxieties as Uzuki becomes independently responsible for her own life, be it figuring out how to make friendships or where to spend free time. The communal space in which she takes refuge is a bookshop; it’s no coincidence that the film at times resembles a short story or light novel. But above all, this experiment in single point of view is his fullest homage to Somai Shinji, this being a film about the speed at which a young person moves—one that happens to transform when a torrential rainstorm arrives.

In Japanese and English with English subtitles

DCP courtesy of Rockwell Eyes

“A charming, spirited, and deliriously romantic treat … [Shinoda Noboru’s] ​‘scope cinematography is stunning.”

Noah Cowan, TIFF

“An almost perfect miniature … As a portrait of a young person’s untrammeled emotions, it recalls ​’60s European cinema in its freshness and innocence.”

Derek Elley, Variety