“Remembering all the nights” The times that come together, the women who keep the fire going

Keep the fire burning

Mikami Ai has a beautiful posture when she stands. The moment when her character Natsu gets on her bicycle and puts on a thin outer layer. The moment when Sanae, who always keeps her hair up while at work, appears with her hair down. There are many memorable and unexpected moments in "Remembering Every Night." There is a scene in the film where the memories of a stranger recorded on a home video are converted into digital footage, and there is a sense that the gestures and postures of each of the three women are themselves being recorded as part of the memory of this town. When I think back to this film, I will surely remember Natsu racing through the town on her bicycle, brisk like the wind.

While there are things that remain as records such as videos and photographs, this film seeks to give value to the emotions that were not recorded. Yui Kiyohara is attempting to equate what remains with what does not. Everything still exists somewhere.

Natsu's late friend used to take a lot of photos, but there are hardly any photos left of her in them. Natsu revisits her memories of the night she played with fireworks with her late friend. She recreates the memory as if it were a summoning ritual. What kind of magic is there in recreating the memory of fireworks? Natsu's ritual seems more like an attempt to draw a line between a time that has stopped and a time that could have been, rather than an attempt to summon the spirit of a late friend. The repeated chant "Don't let the fire go out" sounds like a prayer spell.

"Remembering Every Night" ©2022 PFF Partners (Pia, Horipro, Nikkatsu) / PFF General Incorporated Association

Keep the fire burning. The house that the wandering old man insisted was his, seemed to be uninhabited by anyone. Only the building, the house, was left behind as if time had stopped. There is no gas contract for this house. However, one day, Sanae discovers that the gas meter of this house is working. The house that was left behind is alive.

Keep the fire burning. Chizu visits the house of her old friend, which was written on a postcard. If the rustling of the trees in this town is pleasant, it feels like something good will happen. The sound of the wind can make you feel cheerful, but it can also be an ominous sound that brings the shadow of loss. The rustling of the trees in this work changes its appearance from time to time. Just as the sound of the bells has its own expression, the rustling of the trees also has its own expression.

Keep the fire burning. The three women never meet. But they cross paths in this city through the glances each of them happens to direct. A relay of glances. A relay of memories. Our lives are a repetition of choices, but somewhere in this world there must be a self that made a different choice. This film lights up all those nights, the lives we remember, the lives that could have been, the fabricated memories, the forgotten memories. "Remembering All the Nights" is a wonderful and precious film that relays the light from person to person to keep the fire burning. I want to treasure the spell "Keep the fire burning" and keep it in my heart.

Text: Daiji Miyashiro (maplecat-eve)

Movie criticism. Contributed reviews to ``Leos Carax: Movie Wanderer'', Eureka's ``Wes Anderson Special'', Real Sound, Soen, otocoto, Toshio Matsumoto Special Pamphlet, etc.

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"Remembering Every Night"

Now showing nationwide at Eurospace and other venues from March 2nd (Sat)

Distribution: PFF General Incorporated Association

©2022 PFF Partners (Pia, Horipro, Nikkatsu) / PFF General Incorporated Association