Director Kazuya Shiraishi
Starring Yu Aoi and Sadao Abe
Rated Recommended for ages 15 and over.
Score 5/6

Tawako’s boyfriend is not her kind, but she puts up with it in exchange for shelter. Her old boyfriend of almost a decade ago is long gone, and was also not nice, but like most girls she still reminisces about him and is attracted to his bad ways. Enter Mizushima who reminds Tawako of her old boyfriend, but soon more transpires to remind the girl of her old relationship.

I’m a little conflicted about this one, I found a little hard to watch but I’m glad I stuck with it because the ending certainly seemed worth it. It should be noted that Birds without names is based on a novel written by Mahokaru Numata. Even though I was completely unfamiliar with director Kazuya Shiraishi’s work, I have a feeling that I might have to check out a few more of his movies. I liked how Shiraishi used a slightly surreal moment and flashbacks to tell the story. Both Yu Aoi and Sadao Abe gave brilliant performances as Towako and Jinji. Their character’s relationship seemed to be very toxic (I actually found myself wanting to yell at them) and I kind of got the impression that some level they deserved each other. Towako was an unsympathetic self-absorbed #$%^& while at first, I could not make up my mind if Jinji was an idiot or a saint (I settled on thinking of him as a combination of both) though there was also a major creep factor to the character. Yet with that being said by the end of the movie I actually feeling sorry for Towako and Jinji.

© 2017 “Birds Without Names” Film Partners