| I've something of a history
with the movie Nana. Back when I taught
English in Shimonoseki, the local rental store
became a regular stop on my prowl for Japanese
media entertainment. It was particularly fascinating
to comb through the fairly well-stocked Japanese
movies section and see what sort of curiosities
I might dig up. As an enthusiast of both Japanese
cinema and comics, it was with some elation that
I found the Nana title in the new releases
section, even though I had never actually read
the comic in question. Despite knowing full well
that comic book adaptations have a some propensity
for mediocrity, I find myself drawn to them,
no matter their quality—much like my masochistic
fascination with video game movies. Thus it was
to my considerable chagrin when I searched in
vain for those magical kanji on the back of the
case that would indicate the presence of English
subtitles. I had become well-acquainted at this
point with the cerebral strain of raw Japanese
movie watching and the deep impact that simple
understanding of basic plot elements can have
on the enjoyment of any given title. I'd also
already suffered through the manga-based bomb Tetsujin
28 without English
assistance, so I left Nana alone for other
entertainment frontiers—like The
Man Behind the Scissors (2005).
But
it seemed I couldn't escape from Nana.
I often saw it at the store, or got it confused
with Kamikaze
Girls (because of the similar odd couple
theme), and then one day my friend Rachel said
she had up and rented the thing herself. Though
Rachel had never been particularly interested
in comic books nor sitting through Japanese movies
without any English subtitles, she had developed
an interest in the film because of the music,
which she had encountered via a friend playing
the soundtrack in her car as they went on a road
trip. Not about to waste an opportunity to watch
a manga-based movie with a friend, I begged favor
to join in the viewing and, obtaining her gracious
permission, promptly went into research mode,
reading up on the plot and characters from the
comic in preparation before plopping down in
front of the TV along with my friend, some snacks,
and a dogged determination to understand. During
that viewing more than any other, mostly on account
of Rachel's interest in the film, I strained
to understand the fast-chatter dialogue, focusing
so hard that one might think the movie was a
cryptic code of weighty import rather than a
mere chick flick. However, my Japanese skills
weren't developed enough to decipher the gossip
plot, and all of my effort gave me in the end
was a night's sleep interrupted by dreams of
the characters and their infuriating opacity.
Worst of all, there was no hope for redemption—even
the special edition version of the DVD in Japan
had no subs. It wasn't until just a few days
ago that finally, through the miracle of a domestic
DVD release and a weekend of watching live-action
manga-based movies, I was finally able to screen
the film with more than a modicum of comprehension.
(For those who might be wondering, I also watched
the fluffy fun film Love*Com and the disappointingly
poor Honey and Clover. I know they're
girly flicks. Shut up. I retain my masculinity.)
Based
on the Ai Yazawa shojo manga of the same name,
Nana the movie tells of the lives of two young
ladies named Nana, their fateful meeting and
blossoming friendship, and their somewhat complicated
love lives. College-age Nana Komatsu (Aoi Miyazaki),
who I will refer to by her nickname "Hachi" from
now on to avoid confusion, is a ditsy, cheerful,
hopeless romantic moving to Tokyo to be with
her boyfriend, Shoji (Yuta Hiraoka, Swing
Girls).
When Hachi gets on the train, by chance she sits
down next to the oblique, quiet Nana Otani (pop
singer Mika Nakashima), lead singer from a relatively
small rock band known as the Black Stones. Through
happenstance, the two very different girls end
up as roommates and best friends as they try
to navigate the rough and uncertain waters of
their various relationships—in particular,
naturally, their troubled love lives and, to
a lesser degree, their jobs, and Nana's dream
of becoming a famous singer bigger than her band's
rival, the likewise female-led Trapnest, a band
towards which Hachi harbors deep fan-affection.
Not to mention that the lead guitarist was Nana's
former lover!
The
plot is, obviously enough, nothing original,
and the staple of unlikely friendship between
two wildly different personalities has been done
enough times to become a cliché. Nevertheless,
the characters are winning and deep enough for
viewers to latch onto them. The two Nanas are
not just cardboard cutouts limited to one character
trait. Rather, they have feelings and dreams,
often conflicting ones, and despite their differences,
it's easy to see why the two of them would quickly
come to care for one another. The story itself
is also well-paced and, while there is plenty
of ground to cover before the conclusion, rarely
feels like it's trying to do too much. The screenwriters
have carved out a nice chunk of plot from the
comics, and it fits well into the format of a
movie—a task which often proves to be too
much for a lot of comic-based movies. The biggest
weakness of the plot is an over reliance on coincidence
to push the story forward, and also a lot of
the minor characters haven't much to do, but
these weaknesses don't hold back the movie too
much.
A
few words should be noted about the source material.
While Ai Yazawa's phenomenally popular Nana comic
series may be technically a shojo or girls' comic
in that it ran in the shojo magazine Ribon, the
story is more mature and realistic than a lot
of girls' comics and is aimed at an older teenage
audience, to the point that the title resembles
a josei, or women's, comic—a genre sometimes
notorious for its sexuality. Indeed, the back
of first volume of Nana proudly states that "The
world of Nana is a world exploding with sex,
music, fashion, gossip, and all-night parties," giving
the title an air of hedonistic bacchanalia. I've
only read the first volume, but it certainly
doesn't shy away from sexual depictions as both
of the main girls engage in steamy copulation,
sometimes with limited nudity and close-ups on
their pleasure-drenched facial expressions. Interestingly,
the movie tones such mature aspects down a few
notches, with all mating taking place off-screen,
and such elements as Hachi's dalliances with
a married man while still in high school never
mentioned. In fact, Hachi comes across in the
film as an almost virginal innocent, rather than
the "experienced" young woman she is in the books.
I can't comment extensively on fidelity to the
source material because I've read so little of
it, and the story of the movie actually takes
place after the events of the first volume, but
the characters and even some of the costumes
seem mostly faithful to their comic book origins,
which should please most fans, even if inevitably
many minor details, such as Hachi's belief in
the Dark Lord of Terror, are excluded.
When
it comes to truly capturing the spirit of the
comic, acting is key, and in Nana this aspect
is somewhat mixed, but overall makes a positive
impression. Aoi Miyazaki as Hachi is arguably
the biggest standout; she captures Miss Komatsu's
idealistic enthusiasm for life very well, from
her smiles to her tears, which is essential since
she acts more or less as the narrator of the
story. Only on rarest occasion does her performance
show signs of artificiality. Mika Nakashima,
on the other hand, was obviously hired because
of pop star clout and resemblance to the scarily
skeletal Nana Otani; she isn't an actor, and
sometimes it's obvious from the woodenness of
her delivery. Surprisingly enough, though, even
with her underdeveloped acting skills, the negative
impact on the film is, in my opinion, negligible.
Nana Otani's character is established as a strong
woman with a difficult past who copes partially
by putting up a wall between herself and the
world, often expressing very little emotion,
displaying a deadened mask, which Nakashima does
just fine, and it's easy for viewers to chalk
up much of her questionable acting ability to
Nana Otani's somewhat awkward social skills.
Supporting actors come across more professionally,
including Yuta Hiraoka's turn as Hachi's fickle
beau Shoji and the somewhat odd-looking Ryuhei
Matsuda as Nana's paramour Ren, who exhibits
a tenderness that makes it easy to understand
why Miss Otani might be attracted to him. Azumi's
Hiroki Narimiya also makes an enjoyable appearance
as one of Nana's band mates and seems to be channeling
a bit of Shingo Kattori's spirit in his big-grinning
performance. I also appreciated the presence
of Death Note veteran Kenichi Matsuya, who lends
his quiet, earnest acting to the part of Shinichi
Okazaki, Ren's replacement in Nana's band.
Music
is one of the strongest selling points of a movie
like this with such a focus on the rock star
life, and Nana again succeeds rather well. I'm
not going to argue that Mika Nakashima is a good
singer, but she acquits herself well with the
movie's signature song, "Glamorous Sky," which
I found stuck in my head after the credits were
finished. There's a reason Mika Nakashima released
an entire album performing "as" Nana. It suits
her. Yuna Ito, the other pop star in the film
who plays Reira, lead singer of Trapnest, technically
sings better than Mika, and her song in the movie
is softer, melodious, very pleasant J-pop. Most
impressively, Yuna can sing very well in English
and in Japanese, a rarity in Japan. The only
problem with their songs is that the concert
portions of the movie arguably go on a bit too
long. The other instrumental themes throughout
the film, utilizing strong violin movements,
support the emotional content of the story well
and are distinctive enough on their own merits.
Now I rather wish I had a copy of the soundtrack
myself.
I'm
probably a bit biased towards this film due to
my odd history with the title, even if I am not
as fond of the manga itself. Nevertheless, Nana
captures many of the strengths of the original
material in a format that also works as a film,
with good casting that matches the character
designs from the comic and excellent music. The
movie was so successful in Japan that it spawned
an apparently less successful sequel. Somehow
nevertheless I still hope to see it after Nana
2 (2006) is released in America this
coming July, and that speaks to the quality of
this title, despite a few plotline hiccups and
occasional rough acting. For a chick flick manga
movie, Nana excels. |
(4/5)