A Silent Voice (Koe no katachi, dir. Yamada Naoko, 2016)
“Yamada’s creative direction shows a filmmaker with a distinctive way of looking at the world, following in the footsteps of other maverick Japanese talents like Ozu, Kitano and Miyazaki.” —Trevor Johnston
“Firstly this is a film that depicts a story in which ‘a boy practices how to live’, but another focal point other than the previously mentioned ‘film about sound’ is ‘a work that allows you to experience the memories and sensations of another person’. This was another aspect that was thought about when making the film. So I would like people not just to enjoy the story’s content and meaning. There is something that rises from the film, something that you can’t quite grasp. I would like the various people watching to accept and understand this as part of an individual and personal viewing experience.” —Yamada Naoko
Score: 8 to 8+ out of 10.