IMDb plot summary: Makoto Kashiba is an elite bank clerk and works for a big bank at its Tokyo HQ. Due to a minor mistake, he is demoted to a small branch office in a country town. He is devastated by his situation. There, he meets beautiful Yoshino Ikoma, who runs a goldfish scooping store. Makoto falls in love with her at first sight.
Directed by Yukinori Makabe. Starring Nicole Ishida, Hayato Kakizawa, and Naoki Kawano.
Love, Life and Goldfish is a Japanese musical film about a young man settling in a new town after a work demotion and perhaps finding love in the process. I really wanted to love this film but something about it sat just outside my periphery. I am often drawn to stories about nerdy outcasts trying to figure out love, especially if there are musical numbers to highlight their journey, but I just had such a tough time tracking this character's motivations and interests. The music does most of the emotional heavy liting here, with these big sentimental ballads that tug at the heartstrings (but that I'm sure would be much improved by seeing their thematic connection to the actual narrative at hand -- something that doesn't always happen). The "goldfish" of the title refers to the fact that the main potential love interest works in a store where people can compete to scoop goldfish out of a larger pool into a smaller one, and the goldfish metaphor is definitely visually arresting but, again, doesn't always land narratively. There may very well be some cultural differences keeping me at a distance here, so this is one I want to go back and retry, because when it works, it REALLY works.
How it entered my Flickchart:
Love, Life and Goldfish > Jesus Christ Superstar (2000)
Love, Life and Goldfish < Kuroneko
Love, Life and Goldfish > Incendies
Love, Life and Goldfish < Ghost World
Love, Life and Goldfish < Man on Wire
Love, Life and Goldfish < Panic Room
Love, Life and Goldfish < Family Business
Love, Life and Goldfish < Nobody's Fool
Love, Life and Goldfish > Cafe Society
Love, Life and Goldfish < The Family Man
Love, Life and Goldfish < The Count of Monte Cristo
Love, Life and Goldfish > Juno and the Paycock
Final spot: #1386 out of 3720, or 63%.
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