Shuichi Furukawa receives a phone call from his mother. She reminds him that they are moving the next day. The following day, Shuichi takes a train ride back to his hometown. He arrives at his parents home, but nobody is home. He looks for the house key under a potted plant but can't find the key. He starts to thinks back to his childhood days in his parents home. Shuichi grew up with his younger brother, older sister, father who ran a shoe making business out of their garage and mother. Shuichi grew up with a crush on an older woman who lived next door and he loved to make piggy banks out of empty whiskey bottles. One day on a school picnic, Shuichi's classmates grabbed a lunchbox from a fellow student and eventually gave the lunch box to Shuichi. All the other students chanted "throw it away," while Shuichi's former friend looked on in despair.
“To be universal, you have to get specific”: while the film does not attempt to provoke discussions about queerness or race, those watching closely may find something resonant in Sorrentino’s love letter to the Naples of his youth.
As a frequent “the book was better” extoller, this movie was well worth the watch.
Over the last several years, I have had the privilege of being one of the critics having the opportunity to watch and review several films from writer/director/producer Marcellus Cox, whose efforts are never anything less but grounded, relevant, and steeped in unflinching glimpses illustrating the gripping, inspired, and ever-vacillating realms that make up the human condition.
Disney's live-action remake is vibrant and beautiful, with updated music and classic enthusiasm, but it fails to push the envelope and provide nuance for Ursula.
In the spirit of Halloween, here's a list of body horror films which can be interpreted as trans allegories.
