Suzume

Director: Makoto Shinkai (Japan). Year of Release: 2022

Kyūshū, South-West Japan. Suzume has been living with her unmarried aunt Takami since her single mother died in an earthquake- By the laws of arithmetic, Suzuke must be around 16 (her mother died when she was 4, and she’s been living with her aunt for 12 years), but she looks much younger. This might be in part because, like all the characters, she is a cartoon. But also she insists on wearing the Japanese schoolgirl uniform that emphasizes her youth and feels a little voyeuristic.

One day, when she is cycling to school, Suzume comes across someone who looks like he’s in a K-Pop band, or whatever the Japanese equivalent is. He is dishy and has long hair. As Suzume rides past, he calls her over and introduces himself as Souta. He asks her if there are any ruins nearby. As a matter of fact there are, and she points them in the direction of an abandoned village. He thanks her and goes off in search of some sort of door, while she carries on towards school.

Delayed at a level crossing, Suzume asks herself what on earth she’s up to. She turns her bike round, pedals up the hill, and goes in search of the ruins, and – more importantly – Souta. He’s not there, but she does find a door in the middle of a pond. The water is only a couple of inches deep, so she paddles over in her shoes. When she opens the door, it opens a portal to another dimension (of course it is). She knocks a stone in the water, and it turns into a cat which scampers away.

The stone that Suzume kicked was a keystone, which blocks the hole which prevents the red worms which live beneath the earth from emerging and wreaking havoc. When Suzume resumes contact with Souta, the cat – now called Daijin – turns up at her window and starts talking to her. Daijin turns Souta into Suzume’s old yellow chair with a missing leg which she’s had since her mother made it for her birthday. It tells Souta that he is now a keystone.

I’ve read a number of reviews of Suzume, and most of them barely mention exactly how weird all this is. Now, I have nothing against weird films, but you should at least acknowledge what’s happening. There are many occasions in Suzume where we’re expected to accept the film’s rather strange logic and not ask too many questions. Again, I’m fine with this in principle, but we should at least look at what the film is asking us to accept as normal.

There is an endemic weakness of fantasy films, which I guess this is, in that anything goes. Dramatic tension is reduced by the knowledge that at any stage, the writer can pluck a plot development out of nowhere which makes no sense in the real world, but follows the arbitrary rules set by the film. This results in you nor really caring about what’s going to happen, as the premise is so ridiculous that whatever happens will happen with no recourse to logic.

But if you get over the general silliness, there are moments to enjoy. Daijin is capricious, and acts on a whim – of course he does, he’s a cat. It is often difficult to tell whether his role is as Suzume’s protector, or as an evil spirit, revelling in her misfortune. When he tells her of the millions of people who will die as a result of her actions, you do get the feeling that he’s enjoying it a little too much. Then he puts on a cute face, and Suzume sees no alternative to endlessly petting him.

For a while, Suzume and the chair inhabited by Souta chase Daijin through Japan. We learn that Souta comes from a family of “Closers”, whose job is to close the portal and prevent the red worms from taking over. The worms’ imminent presence triggers emergency warnings of an incoming earthquake sent to everyone’s mobile phone. As it all takes place in Japan, this is pretty often. On occasion, Souta is called to battle the worms, sometimes with assistance from Suzume.

Then, for no particular dramatic reason, we have a shift in plot. Souta is banished to the edge of beyond. He is replaced by his old mate Tomoya who continues the journey in his second-hand red convertible which is held together with sticking plaster. Suzume and Tomova are joined by aunt Takami, as they travel towards Suzume’s birthplace, so that she can confront her dreams of her mother shortly before mum’s tragic death, where she expects unfinished business.

I do wonder what the target audience of Suzume is supposed to be. Given the age of the heroine and the love interest, you might think that it was for Young Adults, although it did play in the Berlinale and tonight’s audience was mote adult than young. There are a lot of reflections on the absurdity of life and fear of death which would make you think that it is aiming at an older, more cerebral audience, even if many of the underlying ideas turn out to be somewhat trite.

The fact that Souta spends most of the film as a chair prevents the budding romance between him and Suzume being anything more than platonic. This is probably just as well. As said, Suzume is 16, 17 tops, and Souta probably in his mid-20s, leading to a slightly inappropriate age difference. Similarly, although it looks like Tomoya and Takami – who must have a similar age difference – might start to show some romantic interest in each other, this never leads anywhere.

You could make a case that Suzume, the film, is about the uncertainties of adolescence, and that the phallic red worms represent nascent sexuality. You could, but I don’t think much of that is really there to see on screen. I think Suzume is a much more conventional film, about fitting in and missing your mum, and also about fighting giant sci-fi creatures. It looks great, and is fine as far as it goes. Which, to be honest, isn’t that far, but it’s all diverting enough.