Elephant (2003)

Gus Van Sant is the director of many popular movies, such as Good Will Hunting (1997) and Elephant (2003). Good Will Hunting follows a young man who works as a janitor at a prestigious college who discovers that he possesses an extraordinary talent for mathematics. In contrast, Elephant explores the lives of two deeply troubled young men who are planning a school shooting. Van Sant also played a pivotal role in the New Queer Cinema movement, which focuses on queer-themed independent movies and was first coined by B. Ruby Rich in the 1990s. Being a part of the queer community himself, he contributed works like Mala Noche (1985) and My Own Private Idaho (1991). The latter film tells the story of a young male sex worker with narcolepsy who embarks on a journey across the globe to find his estranged mother. While the plots of these films are drastically different, they share many similarities from both a theatrical and cinematic standpoint.

I’ve only watched Terrace House: Opening New Doors but there are several different options taking place in major tourist destinations. There’s Tokyo, Aloha State, and more. I haven’t watched all of the variations so I can’t comment on those directly, but they all follow the same premise as Terrace House: Opening New Doors.

The premise is simple and conventional. Six young people live in a house and we follow their interactions and budding romantic relationships. It’s like The Real World, Japanese edition. The Real World is arguably the first popular reality TV show format. But while Terrace House keeps in tradition by using the same general format, the tone is significantly different.

For starters, Terrace House: Opening New Doors takes place in Karuizawa. It’s in the Nagano prefecture, a bullet train ride away from Tokyo and a short car ride from the ski slopes. Karuizawa has a small-town feel; we see lots of natural scenery, snowboarding, and playing in the front lawn. The pace is slow and the turn of the seasons allows us to see the house year-round.