Title: Crying out Love, in the Center of the World aka Sekai no Chushin de, Ai wo Sakebu
Genre: Drama/Romance
Director: Yukisada Isao
Format: Movie, 138 minutes.
Dates: 8 May 2004

Synopsis: Matsumoto Sakutaro, or “Saku”, is a normal, engaged man living in modern-day Japan. While moving, his fiancée finds a tape dating from 1986. This tape is none other than the last entry in the diary of Hirose Aki, Saku’s first love who died of leukemia shortly after meeting him. As Saku runs back to his childhood home, he discovers Aki and his audio diaries, and embarks on a long, solitary sojourn back to the happiest and saddest days of his life.

The Highlights
Cinematography: Top-notch.
Characters: Only four.
Plot: Character driven.
Number of tissue boxes used drying tears: Three.

There’s been a literary trend in Japan in recent years: the “Pure Love” style. The style harkens back to 19th-century Classical Romanticism, involving stories of the purest love, with the theme of “Love Conquers All.” The spearhead of the Pure Love style is this film: Crying Out Love, In the Center of the World, or Sekachu for short.

Sekachu is the story of Saku, a normal, engaged and slightly depressed working-class man living in Japan. After finding a tape from 1986, his fiancée runs back to his hometown. Initially, he chases her back, but upon arriving, memories of Hirose Aki, his first love, pour forth. Her tale is a tragic one: the viewer quickly learns that she died within a couple of months after meeting Saku, as revealed on the tape Saku’s fiancée found.

While some may dismiss this film as a simple love story, it’s a lot deeper than that. Sekachu is a story of acceptance, of moving on, and tackles the universal question: how do we get over the death of our loved one?

Told through a series of flashbacks, the pacing of Sekachu is slow, almost minimalist. The shots are often extremely long, dialogue is sparse, and almost everything in the movie is conveyed through the camera. Therefore, it’s extremely fortunate that the camera work in this movie is top-notch. The lighting choices are absolutely stunning: using dark, deep hues of indigo and black to represent the present day, and bright, clear yellows and whites to represent the joyful past of Saku.

Then there’s the characters: absolutely unforgettable. Present-day Saku is played by Osawa Takao, and he completely captures the absolute grief and agony he goes through listening to Aki’s old audio diaries. Moriyama Mirai also delivers a star performance as teenage Saku, fully capturing the joys and sorrows he goes through with during his relationship with Aki. Because of the lack of action, acting ability plays an absolutely paramount role to the development of the plot. Fortunately, both Sakus are played in a superb fashion, linking the joys of his teenage years to the melancholy of his present-day life.

Then there’s Hirose Aki. Played by the beautiful Nagasawa Masami in what would become her defining role, Aki is, as Saku describes, “a level above everyone else.” Aki is a character I felt for; I felt her joy, her pain, and her perseverance throughout the entirety of the film. While some love films contain the average “Mary Sue,” a perfect, clichéd female lead role, Hirose Aki is not one of those people. Despite the countless Japanese films with dying female leads, she still manages to stand out. Her refusal to die, love for Saku and spirit are one of a kind; at the same time, the slow deterioration of her physical health throughout the series is also notable. Unlike other films, in which a dying heroine remains cheerful, upbeat and happy despite illness, the despair on her face as she slowly loses all physical strength is evident, almost painful. Hirose Aki doesn’t go out with a bang, rather, she slowly fades and withers to death, and her death receives heart-wrenching pity from the viewer.

What Sekachu shows us is the futility of eternity, the acceptance of lost, and the meaning of living. Fortunately, the movie is not overly philosophical or dogmatic; it is simple, streamlined and absolutely beautiful. For anyone with even a passing interest in love films, regardless of age or gender, I highly recommend this film. This is the film that defined a genre.

The Rating: 10

Reviewed by: Akira