Call Me Chihiro (2023)

February 24, 2023 5:25 PM

Chihiro (the amazing Kasumi Arimura) is a former sex worker who now works at a small bento shop and spends her free time helping people, animals, and (at one point) an ant.

But there's more to her than the simple do-gooder (the cliche "sex worker with a heart of gold"). As the movie progresses, we see a real darkness in her, and realize that all along she's is trying to fix herself. There's a tension underneath everything that she does, and it's not a huge surprise to find out Chihiro isn't her real name, and that only rarely does she open up to anyone. We get the sense that she has seen (and possibly done) some horrible things and at one point tells a random stranger "I get hungry for ramen noodles after I bury a body". We have to wonder how much she is kidding (for one thing, she actually does bury more than one body during the course of the movie, all at night and with no witnesses).

It's not fast-moving. At over 2 hours, with long static shots and no overarching plot to speak of, you have to settle in for this one, but I found it well worth it.

Available on Netflix in Canada, not sure about other countries.

posted by Mogur (5 comments total)

I'm definitely in. it's on Netflix us, too. thanks!
posted by j_curiouser at 12:54 AM on February 25, 2023

As someone remarked on letterboxd, I could happily watch Chihiro eat bento all damn day. Watching Chihiro build a multigenerational family out of isolated people was genuinely beautiful and touching and if the movie was three hours long, I would have continued to happily watch it. And of course it's sad that she couldn't stay and feel it-that she had to leave to go to the next place. What made me the saddest about the end was that she leaves Tae, the only character who actually understands her. All of other characters, like her former boss and her friend, they like her and are fascinated by her, but they don't understand her. Only Tae really holds that for her, and you see it in that long hug.

Honestly if this becomes a series of films, I would watch the hell out of every one of them.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:31 PM on February 28, 2023

Thinking about it, this movie has a bit of a Sweet Charity to feel to it particularly the ending.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:41 PM on February 28, 2023

I would happily watch this again and again as well, just to watch Chihiro eat and stand in the water. The ellipses of her life weren't puzzles to be solved for the plot, but sort of big hidden spaces that defined the shape of the film. I really liked that the film didn't linger over the food in particular - the lighting tended to be quite flat and the camera fairly away from people, although there were moments when they did use lighting (at the bottom of the sea!) and odd shots skillfully so it was a choice - like someone else watching Chihiro as well.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 1:31 AM on March 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

Thanks! I'm expecting to watch this more than once. And oddly enough, seeing it made me want to see Kedi again, so I guess I'll put that on next.
posted by kingless at 8:23 AM on March 2, 2023