There’s something endearing about “Remembering Every Night” (Japanese: “すべての夜を思いだす”), the latest film from director Yui Kiyohara, in that it feels as though the film requires to be observed and not seen. Indeed, the opening shots that show a picturesque suburb — the sprawling Tama New Town district — serve as the main setting for the whole film. And in it, Kiyohara introduces us to her protagonists, three women with stories of their own and whose paths don’t necessarily cross.
But as an exercise in both nostalgia and subtlety, “Remembering Every Night” adroitly binds these roaming souls together. And if anything, it simply shows its director’s ability to tell an engaging narrative that reels us in, even the payoff lies not in the destination of her characters, but in their journey itself.
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On the Film’s Lens Showing the Ephemerality of Everyday Life
“Remembering Every Night” sees Chizu, a fortysomething woman who recently lost her job as a kimono dresser and has difficulty finding work related to her previous job. While tidying up one day, she finds a postcard that an old friend sent, asking her to meet up. The film follows Chizu as she navigates her way around the similar-looking streets.
The film gradually shifts focus on Sanae, a woman in her 30s who works as a gas company meter inspector. After observing Chizu from afar, she briefly converses with an older resident during one of her rounds. Later on, Sanae spots an old man wandering in the park whose description fits the announcement about an old resident gone missing. Her attempt to escort the man home results in a quietly comic scenario, as the home address may or may not be the right one.
Finally, as Chizu tries to find her way around the district, she watches and imitates from afar a twentysomething student named Natsu practicing her dance moves at the town park. The film then follows Natsu around, first visiting the mother of a late friend before joining a friend to talk about school and the dancing incident earlier.
At this point, Kiyohara engages in a delicate balancing act, showing the audience a story of modern women. Each with their own reasons, the three women of the story walk and ride the streets of Tama New Town over the course of one day; carrying with them their past, fears about the present, and reservations about the future.
‘Remembering Every Night’: A Deeply Personal Film for Rising Filmmaker Yui Kiyohara
For a film dealing with multiple storylines and subplots, “Remembering Every Night” doesn’t seem to delve too much into creating conflict. Instead, Kiyohara digs into the recesses of her memory to tell a personal story.
The protagonists are three women in different stages of their lives — their 20s, 30s, and 40s, living in a satellite city that, around 50 years ago, promised development and growth to its inhabitants. At that time, too, several women local residents came together in concerted efforts to improve the community. Traces of this collaboration, despite happening in the past, can still be seen in certain cultural and infrastructural projects throughout the district.
This recollection matters, since Kiyohara herself grew up in Tama New Town. And when making the film, her memories served as inspiration for it. However, whereas women from the past had their own way of effecting change, Kiyohara focused on telling the stories of modern women.
Unlike the women of the past, Chizu, Sanae, and Natsu are not aiming to build the community in solidarity. After all, they’re too burdened with their own everyday problems. And using the suburb as backdrop, Kiyohara creates a relatable world populated by people dealing with feelings of isolation; as well as the longing for purpose and, ultimately, escape. And while there are only vestiges of interaction among the three, each of them nonetheless resonated with the other.
A Delightful Study of Isolation – Long Tracking Shots and All
Kiyohara paces the film deliberately slow, with long tracking shots depicting her three main characters spending a whole day through the district. This way, “Remembering Every Night” essentially introduces a fourth main character: the quaint city itself.
True enough, the film keeps on reminding the audience from time to time how idyllic the world of that suburb is. A scene early in the film features an older character waxing nostalgic about the olden, happier and simpler days:
“…but nowadays, we rarely even see our neighbors. It’s quite sad.”
And with Yukiko Iioka’s camerawork here evoking her cinematography in 2021’s “Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy,” this film becomes essentially about three women navigating their personal trials and tribulations in a place that seems out of time.
Frankly speaking, though, its attempt at subtlety could come off as an exigent matter that audiences should take note of. Thankfully, Kiyohara’s storytelling – one that prefers the audience to experience rather than relate to – works to a tee. Ultimately, “Remembering Every Night” flows as a gentle look into the evanescence of daily life.
“Remembering Every Night” opens in theaters on September 15, 2023 at the Film at Lincoln Center in New York.
