Like Grains Of Sand (1995 Film)

[mowbli]

How many fans have seen this? It used to be on YT in one part with English subtitles, but it got removed. Ayu has a lead role in it. It's actually a well written and directed film, that was shown in international film festivals and won a few awards around the world. I thought Ayumi played her role well, and it was real acting, not cutesy simpering idol rubbish. I found an interview and the director talks about Ayu towards the end

http://www.midnighteye.com/interview...ke-hashiguchi/

A very different question finally. What is your opinion on Ayumi Hamasaki's rise to pop music superstardom since her role in Like Grains of Sand?

Well, it's great, isn't? (Laughs). During the production of that film we would sometimes sing karaoke together and I thought she was a really good singer. So I suggested she should try to become a professional. She was seventeen at the time and she replied that she would also like to become a singer, but she wasn't sure about taking that step.

So it's all thanks to you?

Maybe. I guess so, yes. I still keep a love letter from her that she wrote me in those days, in which she said I was her everything (smiles).

[Rae Noir]

I've seen the film, and I thought it was AMAZING! Truly beautiful and totally realistic. It takes serious subjects and makes the characters deal with them with just the right amount of strength and vulnerability. The lack of music in the film means that when music does appear, it turns those moments in the film into absolutely magical moments. Nothing is big and bold in this movie; it's all rather quiet, sometimes slow, tinged with a silent, unexpressed sadness all throughout. I loved seeing Ayumi at such an early, gritty, and non-glamorous stage in her career; the earlier her work, the less glossy and more human she ame across as. (Completely unrelated note: I'd love to see Ayumi go natural and brunette again! She needs to go back to basics in several aspects of her career / public image.)

But I digress. I would give anything to have this film on DVD; it's one of those movies that I've only seen once, yet it truly captivated me with that one viewing, and has lingered with me and haunted me ever since. The ending is so subtle yet so powerful and tear-jerking.