HIFF
A scene from 'Don't Look Back,' nominated
for a Golden Maile award.

Looking back has
its moments

By Burl Burlingame
Star-Bulletin

THERE'S a moment in Shiota Akihiko's "Don't Look Back" -- and it repeats a couple of times later, when Americans of a certain age will shift out of their passive viewing groove and begin to wonder about what they're looking at.

ON SCREEN What: "Don't Look Back" When and Where: 12:15 p.m. Sunday at Dole Cannery, 6 p.m. Monday at Pearl Highlands Cost: $6 general; $5 for Hawaii Film Fans, student, seniors and military Call: 528-HIFF (4433)

It's a scene in which three Japanese schoolgirls perform on mouth-organs in music class, and as the rest of the class watches raptly and the camera spins grandly about the performers, the melody of the funkily syncopated tune starts to sound familiar.

What melody IS that? Wait, that's the theme to "The Longest Day," the early-'60s Darryl F. Zanuck mega-spectacular about the D-Day invasion of Normandy!

Why are Japanese schoolkids wrapped up in the theme music for "The Longest Day"? And why does it repeat several times later ?

There's a bit of a clue in one of the schoolkids, a shy loner who builds model kits. The models are of tanks, German World War II tanks. But if you can't tell your Sturmtiger from your Volkswagen, this clue is going to sail way over the head of the average viewer.

This is a digression brought on solely by cultural context. "Don't Look Back" is a finely realized meditation on the aimless energies of childhood. Not long -- clocking in at 75 minutes -- the film follows the adventures of a couple of childhood pals.

This close examination of childhood adds up to a refutation of the film's title; the storyteller is clearly looking back. And it isn't with nostalgia.

These aren't cliche kids; they lie, cheat, steal, are self-centered. These behaviors aren't presented in a negative context, however. These are the impulses of children, partially formatted adults who aren't self-aware. Little things mean a lot, like a pretty girl sharing a snack, a missed birthday party, the joy of running headlong down a hill and code words among pals (they say "yo" all the time).

The film pretty much takes place in a suburban apartment complex surrounding a park, but director Akihiko makes it seems vast and challenging. The camera movements are also brilliantly realized, given the domestic setting.

Although there are moments of boisterousness, the overall effect of "Don't Look Back" is quiet and contemplative. It may remind you of Francois Truffaut's "Small Change" in the way it clearly accepts childhood on its own level.

Tech credits are first-rate, particularly camera choreography.

Recommended.

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