A gentle, beautiful and graceful film that could work as a companion piece to several of Hirokazu Koreeda’s, An is a sumptuous ode to tasty Japanese treats that morphs into a deeply moving ode to life itself. It’s the first work I’ve seen of Cannes darling Naomi Kawase and I dearly hope it’s not the last.
Kawase employs a highly elegant style that is somehow both very documentary-like and very poetic. The loving, painstaking way the creation of dorayakis – mini pancakes filled with sweet red bean paste – is captured is sure to result in the watering of every mouth it’s played before. But the heart of the film is not in the stomach, but rather the relationship between Tokue and Sentaro.
It’s dorayakis that bring the pair together, instigating an unlikely friendship between two very different people. Each a sort of outsider with a troubled background, their partnership develops into having a hugely profound effect on them both; which in turn had a wonderful effect on me.
The trailer and synopsis do a great job of teasing the first half of the film, without giving away anything of the second. That is the optimal way to enjoy it, so I’ll do my best to not spoil what happens while still giving my opinion on it. The beautifully subtle and nuanced style of the film is somewhat betrayed by some heavy-handed theme as exposition later on, but it’s still respectably ambitious to have a jab at the meaning of life in any piece of art, and An does just that. It might not nail its lofty goals as well as it hopes to, but it succeeds nonetheless in being a thoroughly enjoyable film.
Other Breezy Foodie Films Worth A Watch: The Hundred-Foot Journey, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, Chef
