We Made A Beautiful Bouquet - A Truly Beautiful Film.
We Made A Beautiful Bouquet -
A Truly Beautiful Film
Running late for a train. Finding someone who watches the same films as you. Someone who reads the same books as you. Someone who also uses movie tickets as a bookmark. Running in the rain. Looking through old pictures. Finishing a really good book. Sitting by the beach. Taking pictures with a disposable film camera. These are all really small, intricate details that can be found in our lives. These are the moments that make our hearts beat, that puts a smile on our face, that gives us a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. This feeling is exactly what We Made A Beautiful Bouquet exudes. This film feels like a hug on a rainy day, like someone blow-drying your hair after a bath, like sharing one side of your earpieces with someone else. More importantly, director Nobuhiro Doi tells us that although flowers wilt, and stories end, they made a beautiful bouquet.
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| Masaki Suda and Arimura Kasumi in the film |
The Little Things
As mentioned earlier, what makes this film so charming and so inviting are the little details that are scattered all over the screenplay. The tiny details that make us truly feel like we are watching two real people have a conversation are very realistic and almost meta, which increases the immersion level of the film. Many of the topics that our two protagonists talked about were topics that I was interested in and indulged in as well. Because of this, I quickly fell in love with them and got behind them almost instantly. For the film nerds, the book nerds, the music nerds, or if you are passionate about anything at all, this film is for you.
The characters make so many references to real pieces of media and people, Studio Ghibli legend Hayao Miyazaki, the popular manga “Land of the Lustrous”, and Nintendo Switch’s The Legend of Zelda : Breath of the Wild, to name a few. Hell, director Mamoru Oshii himself shows up in the film. The highly infectious level of enthusiasm in which our lead actors Kasumi Arimura and Masaki Suda radiate while discussing these topics is what carries this film to excellence, it is literally impossible to take your eyes off these two when they start getting into high gear, their dynamic and chemistry is seriously off the charts.
Mugi (Suda Masaki) and Kinu (Arimura Kasami)
bond over shared interests.
It is precisely because of their charm and chemistry that makes this film such a heavy hitter. As time passes and reality starts to sink in a little deeper, we start to see passions and creativity fade away. “Conformity and obedience kill talent”, laments one of the characters. And we start to see that he was right; as Suda’s character Mugi slowly starts to get entangled in the web of working society, the light slowly drains from his eyes. He watches a film with a blank expression. He picks up a manga volume, only to put it back down again seconds later. All the while, Arimura’s character Kinu struggles to inject life back into the man she no longer recognises. It is heart-wrenching and upsetting, but at the end of the day, it’s reality. The reality of having to make a living, of having to sacrifice your passions in favour of being able to put food on the table, of having to
mindlessly move forward no matter what.
Doi reflects his message quietly and subtly, framing his shots to include little details that become increasingly large as the film goes on that reflects Mugi’s change in mindset, and Kinu’s failed attempts at finding the man she once knew in Mugi. The colour tone of the film gets colder and colder as we helplessly watch Mugi losing himself. The tension in the air is palpable, almost unbearable at times. And yet, as tragic as it may seem, we are all given the harsh reminder again and again that this is life. Cold, unrelenting, and brutal.
I am honestly struggling to put what I feel about this film into words, this affected me deeply. The themes of acting in vs against conformity, love, and burning passions really resonated with me, and after the credits rolled I was left stunned for a while with tears running down my face. Watching these two characters who were seemingly made for each other gradually fall apart in the most natural way possible was tough, because it was executed with such brilliance and realism. We Made A Beautiful Bouquet is a stark reminder to us all that we should make the most of our lives, to do what we enjoy, and to cherish our loved ones. Yet, the film also speaks for appreciating our past. To not be sad because something ended, but to smile because it happened. I honestly cannot recommend this film enough.
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