Movie No. 12 (2017): YOUR NAME

Your Name (aka Kimi No Na Wa) (2016)
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Voice cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi
In Japanese, with English subtitles

This dialogue basically summarizes the plot of this movie: "Connecting people is Musubi. So the braided cords that we make represent the flow of time itself. They converge and take shape. They twist, tangle, sometimes unravel, then connect again."

This animated film reminds me of South Korea's "Il Mare." But, it's conflict is much different from the Your Name's. The only analogy I can think of is Il Mare's use of the mail box (as the link between two characters from different times) as Your Name's use of a smart phone. 

Your Name succeeds in visual realization of the screenplay, which, by the way, may have flaws. The flaws may have been due to the complex story. But that's forgivable. The movie still manages to show the very essence of the narrative that it wants to convey. 

The final scene presages a happy ending, which suggests the realization of the what the dialogue in the first paragraph summarizes.

Rating: 4.0/4.0

Date seen: January 30, 2017