TIFF Report: Hana Review

Okada Junichi, boy band singer turned surprisingly good actor, star as Soza - a young samurai charged with avenging his father’s killing. It is an important mission not only to restore honor to his family but also because his family is poor and, in the period portrayed here, carrying out a vengeance killing carried a sizable monetary reward. His quest has taken him to Edo where he has taken up residence in a run down tenement populated by the lowest of the lower classes: fish mongers, garbage collectors, debtors on the run, and - of most interest to Sazo - a beautiful widow and her young son. He has been on his quest for vengeance for three years now with no leads to show for it and the shy, clumsy samurai honestly seems more inclined to simply put down roots, teaching the local children to read and write, than hunt and kill a man.

But things are never that simple. His quarry - played by Tadanobu Asano - lives close by, too close to be missed, and pressure is coming down from the clan to bring his quest to a close. Further complicating matters is the large number of ronin hiding in the same neighborhood disguised as doctors and merchants, on a vengeance quest of their own - a direct and deliberate reference to the popular tale of the 47 Ronin - who are suspicious of Soza’s presence, fearing him for a spy and who send one of their own - Susumu Terajima - to keep an eye on him.

While Hana is nominally Soza’s story it is really about the life and energy of his downtrodden neighborhood. Kore-Eda does a masterful job of fleshing out each of the inhabitants and their daily lives and interactions. There is the village idiot obsesses with feces, the lazy fishmonger finding new reasons not to get out of bed every morning, the disgraced ronin who attempts hari-kiri every spring, the children bullied by the upper classes, the accomplished dine and dash artist, and, of course, Soza’s love interest across the lane played by the always strong Miyazawa Rie.

Kore-Eda has assembled a fine group of actors, many of whom have worked with him and with each other before, and the camaraderie is clearly evident on screen. The performances are universally strong, striking an admirable balance between humor and pathos, but what really makes it work is that you really believe that these are people who know and care about one another. The film follows a meandering plot line that gives each of the players their moment to shine and while some may be surprised at how minimal Asano’s screen time is - both because of his star status and the importance of his character to the plot - it is one of the great strengths of the film that Kore-Eda builds on character rather than plot.

Beautifully shot, finely performed and brimming with life, Hana shows us a side of the acclaimed director that we haven’t seen before, playful but still with a purpose. Very highly recommended.