Calm and lonely. Director Mike Mills's gaze full of ``Beginners''

“Beginners” Synopsis

One day, five years after his mother's death, Oliver, a 38-year-old single man, comes out as gay to his father. In contrast to his father, who found a new lover and began to enjoy life, Oliver cannot hide his surprise at the shocking truth. Meanwhile, it was discovered that her father had terminal cancer, and after intensive treatment, he passed away. A few months The Day After, Oliver meets Anna, a French actress. Oliver identifies himself with his father, who once enjoyed the last moments of his life with his lover. Meanwhile, Anna also has conflicts with her father.

Index

• The work itself is an “alter ego” of a person named Mike Mills.
• “Gentle solitude” unique to director Mills
• Flat father-son love nurtured by lack of self-pity
• Video production method that smartly conveys cultural and social backgrounds

The work itself is an “alter ego” of a person named Mike Mills.

I encountered a strange event. The other day, I was passing by a used bookstore in Kichijoji. The moment I passed the store, I felt a prickling pain. I continued walking for a while, but I couldn't seem to calm down. Thinking that he had dropped something, he returned to the used bookstore and found a bright yellow book displayed in front of the store. It was a collection of illustrations by director Mike Mills, ``Drawings From the Film Beginners is Beginners'' (2010). It seems like we're on the same wavelength, or rather, I can't help but feel like we have a strange connection.

If you're a movie fan, there's probably at least one person you feel sympathy for, even though you've never met him, thinking, ``This director has the same perspective on the world.'' Even though the things he has eaten and seen are completely different, he is a special person whose works are full of ``understanding''. For me, that's coach Mike Mills.

“Beginners” (c)Photofest / Getty Images

Although he introduced himself as a "director," he is a multi-creator who goes beyond the genre of film director. Commercials and music videos for Nike and Adidas, jacket designs for Beastie Boys, and designs for fashion brands "X-girl" and "Marc Jacobs"... Its activities are wide-ranging. He himself was born into an artistic family, and while spending his childhood passionate about skateboarding and bands, he himself progressed from being a graphic artist to becoming a designer. What's more, his partner is artist, filmmaker, and novelist Miranda July, and Mills himself is a condensed form of art, but when you get a glimpse of his artwork, there are many that are strangely soft.

Although he is active in all aspects, he is also a person who aspires to delicate craftsmanship. Although his position is similar to that of his friend Spike Jonze (incidentally, he is also an old friend of Sofia Coppola), Mills' personality is more naive. This is clear from his filmography as a film director.

“ Thumb Soccer: My 17-year-old, normally worried future ” (05)

“Mike Mills’ Depression Story” (07)

“Beginners” (10)

“ 20th Century Woman ” (16)

Mills's works are consistently static and have a personal feel. He is also a writer of almost all of his works. It can be seen that he is an artist-oriented creator who moves when he finds a motif that he really wants to photograph. In fact, ``Beginners'' and ``20th Century Woman'' were works based on his own parents (the former depicts his father, the latter depicts his mother), and are works in which ``there is meaning in what he creates.'' His style is a little different from the type that focuses on directing (by the way, ``Mike Mills' Story of Depression'' is a documentary set in Japan).

Therefore, the appeal of his work may lie in the fact that we can resonate with his line of sight, breathing, and worldview rather than the story itself. The work itself stands close to the ``alter ego'' of Mike Mills.

And it was his second full-length work, ``Beginners,'' that determined that color.

“Gentle solitude” unique to director Mills