The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

Summary

“What’s happening today has happened yesterday.”

Cult Epics is a film distribution label that was formed in 1998. They focus on arthouse, cult, erotica, and horror films from across the globe. The label is well known for their releases of films by numerous directors including the works of Tinto Brass, which they have recently been upgrading to 4K UHD. This year they acquired four films by Japanese director Nobuhiko Obayashi. This peaked my interest because, like many people, I was completely blown away by Obayashi’s batshit crazy 1977 film Hausu, which Criterion Collection released on Blu-ray as House years ago. There is a reason that film has a very devoted fan base and Criterion has sold T-shirts promoting the film for a decade. I have been wanting to explore his films since I saw Hausu over a decade ago. Based on a novel by Yasutaka Tsutsui, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was a very popular film for Obayashi in 1983. Actress Tomoyo Harada became both a pop and movie star based on the success of the picture. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was given a release by Third Window Films a few years ago, but I just barely missed that release. Given that I wanted to explore more of this filmmakers work, I was very excited to get to check out the 4K edition from Cult Epics.

Kazuko Yoshiyama (Tomoyo Harada)  is a sixteen year old girl that is taken with the beauty of the seasons and nature around her. At school one day she is given a key by her professor to go lock up the chemical lab. She goes with two of her friends, Goro Horikawa (Toshinori Omi) and Kazuo Fukamachi (Ryoichi Takayanagi,) to lock up the lab. She offers to finish the job so they can go get a snack. Kazuko hears a noise coming from the chemical room. When she investigates, a beaker of an unknown chemical falls to the ground. The chemical smoke knocks her out. Her friends return and find her on the floor. They take her to the teachers who examine her. They assume that she must have fainted from hunger. She explains that someone was in the room before and that the chemical had knocked her out. In the lab when they go to check, the room is clean and normal. There is no sign of broken glass. This is confusing to her. She had distinctly smelled a hint of lavender before she passed out. As the day and night progresses, Kazuko realizes that the chemicals exposure has had a strange effect upon her. She begins to experience time differently than before. This newfound ability becomes more pronounced as the picture progresses.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is an enjoyable teenage romance that has a dreamlike quality to it which will make better sense once the picture has been viewed completely. Despite being relatively restrained for an Obayashi picture, the film still utilizes an array of strange visual techniques such as going from monochrome to color, and then only bringing back color in certain areas of the picture. There are numerous other moments where Obayashi’s experimental style appears. For example, the picture begins in a cropped 1.37:1 framing until the credits roll and then it expands to 1.85:1. Thankfully, the finale of the film involves a jawdropping array of visual techniques and experiments that will make fans of the director smile. The picture should appeal to young adults and adults alike. The film lacks violence, nudity, or sex, but it still manages to craft an air of melancholy in moments that feels adult. The script by Wataru Kenmochi develops the characters well and leaves an impression. The music by Masataka Matsutoya is very relaxed with light strings and keyboard motifs used. The music sounded good to my ears and helped amplify the youthful tone of the film.

Actress Tomoyo Harada became a big star after this film and it is easy to see why. She is adorable, and can also carry a tune. Toshinori Omi and Ryoichi Takayanagi both do well in the supporting roles. The cinematography by Yoshitaka Sakamoto is for the most part fantastic, with lots of beautifully lensed sequences. I particularly like the way that Yoshitaka and Obayashi filmed the village in which the story takes place. In the special features, Alex Pratt does an excellent job of explaining Obayashi’s love for the town of Onomichi. Obayashi lived in Onomichi and filmed numerous pictures there.

Overall – The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is an interesting teenage romance with a science fiction twist. Fans of Hausu will enjoy seeing another side of Obayashi which is completely appropriate for any age. 

Video

Cult Epics has put some exceptional work into their 4K HEVC encoded transfer of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. This is a stunningly detailed restoration. Clarity and depth of field are very good. The cinematography by Yoshitaka Sakamoto is beautiful and looks great in this format. I have not seen any prior releases of the film, but the color timing made sense to me and the HDR seemed to bring out a lot of color in the film. Fans of the picture are going to be blown away by how good the picture looks.

Audio

Cult Epics has provided both a DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo track, and an expanded DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. I went for the 5.1 track and thought that the work put into the track paid off. I thought the expansion was very well done, especially on the moments involving the storm or earthquake scenes. 

Supplements:

The UHD Disc contains the audio commentaries. The rest of the features are on the Blu-ray disc of special features that is included. 

– Audio Commentary by film critic Alex Pratt – Alex is extremely knowledgeable about Obayashi and this film. 

• A Movie: Obayashi’s Cinematic Life – Visual essay by Max Robinson – Max Robinson does an amazing job of discussing the career of Obayashi with the help of visuals from numerous Obayashi films. I really enjoyed hearing about other aspects of his filmmaking career.
• Now and Then, Here and There: Onomichi Pt. 2 – Visual essay by Alex Pratt – Alex does a wonderful job of discussing Obayashi’s love for his home town of Onomichi and walks through numerous locations from the film as they appear now.
• A Conversation with Nobuhiko Obayashi (2015) Japan Society NY
• Director Nobuhiko Obayashi Archival Interview
• The Tomoyo Harada Story
• Toki O Kakeru Shojo music video
• Theatrical Trailers

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 4/5

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was a big hit in Japan for director Nobuhiko Obayashi and made actress Tomoyo Harada a star in movies and pop music. The film is an enjoyable teenage romance that plays with elements of time travel. The picture is somewhat inscrutable at times on the first viewing, but makes complete sense when the picture finishes. Unlike Obayashi’s breakthrough Hausu, this picture is completely clean and can be enjoyed by young and old alike. Obayashi is fairly restrained until he gets to let loose in the finale with numerous visual techniques. I enjoyed the film, although I am not sure how often I will revisit it. Cult Epics have done a masterful job on the 4K transfer. The movie looks excellent in 4K. The special features are likewise exceptional. Overall – fans of the film should not hesitate to add this to their collection. I look forward to seeing more of Obayashi’s work on Blu-ray and 4K, and I am happy that Cult Epics will be stewards of some of that work!