The blurb of 2023 Japanese Netflix Original film Call Me Chihiro describes the titular Chihiro (Kasumi Arimura) as an unapologetic former sex worker. Unapologetic is possibly too strong of a term for the passive protagonist of prolific filmmaker Rikiya Imaizumi’s latest film. Based on the manga of the same name, by Hiyoyuki Yasuda, we follow Chihiro (Kasumi Arimura) as she leaves her old life behind and serves bento to a welcoming town of friendly faces. While it’s true that Chihiro (Arimura) displays no shame or remorse for her life choices, in this sedentary seaside town she doesn’t need to, the stigma of sex work isn’t really present. There is an allusion to the hardship she has faced, but this is definitely a more sanitized portrayal of that world. It’s an interesting choice of past life for the main character, but it’s almost irrelevant; it’s as if Chihiro would be equally lost if she was an architect or a doctor. The very adult nature of her previous life does, however, provide a stark and interesting juxtaposition to her childish attitudes and playful way of seeing the world. This childishness becomes quite grating but makes sense for a character somewhat stuck in arrested development. Her companions are teenaged Okaji (Hana Toyoshima) and school boy Makoto (Tetta Shimada), though she is notably not in a position of authority with these two. If anything, they are her peers. Chihiro’s ex-employer, Utsumi (Lily Franky) describes her as missing something inside, and Kasumi Arimura’s acting has to be praised. She does a great job of portraying this lack of engagement with the wider world, wearing the same expression whether she’s apologising for some unauthorised babysitting, watching a bar fight, or burying a corpse. The film is brilliant at showing rootlessness and transience. Chihiro’s loneliness is made evident as she crawls on all fours to get attention from a disinterested cat. Inhibitions don’t plague her, and the eagerness she displays for some attention is very telling. One aspect that is interesting in the first quarter of the film is Okaji’s obsession with Chihiro, the voyeurism and photographs a potential metaphor for the ownership of sex workers. But as the film goes on, and the two become friends, this doesn’t amount to anything. It is simply never explained why this teenage girl has taken hundreds of photos of a nearly-thirty-year-old woman playing on the swings. Alongside food, which is an obvious motif – the rice and vegetables nourishing the characters’ bodies whilst the conversations and interactions nourish their souls – the other main theme running throughout the story is the importance of found family. Unfortunately, parents don’t fare well in this world, all of them unable to offer their children what they need. Chihiro’s found family are a motley crew, as lost and lonely as she is. But her impact on their lives, whilst on the surface wholly inappropriate, is nothing but positive. https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405531800251400197 https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405534161418059785 https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405534771454410761 https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405536496328376321 https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405537189051236352 https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405539698000003075 https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405540307700809734 https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405540850938675202 https://community.oneplus.com/thread/1405541504587399176 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106659666018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106660662018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106662210018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106665804018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106667388018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106668750018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106669692018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106676850018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106677018018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106679976018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106680126018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106681602018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106682070018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106683000018130 https://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.122106683048018130 https://bit.ly/3KUrJ2o https://bit.ly/3qMtMyC https://bit.ly/44xlXKV https://bit.ly/3YYqAgc https://bit.ly/3OKnMOY https://bit.ly/3EiFZ12 https://bit.ly/3KTcoir https://bit.ly/3qNMSVb https://bit.ly/3qOQIgJ https://bit.ly/3Eaun0i https://bit.ly/3KSShRO https://bit.ly/3Pd8cwx https://bit.ly/47S0nUG https://bit.ly/3YRw38i https://bit.ly/45wIv00 https://yamcode.com/untitled-80979 https://pastelink.net/9pe62iqv https://rentry.co/ycitc https://justpaste.it/c5ml6 https://pasteio.com/xTstR4dMGr34 https://pastebin.com/VgiqhyjN https://paiza.io/projects/UCMIt41015hdHO17OBCSGQ https://onlinegdb.com/ynLE3cSBv https://paste2.org/3CJVEjJp https://paste.cutelyst.org/lIUHXgn-R https://www.pastery.net/pkdqqv/ https://bitbin.it/dNnzrr2m/ https://controlc.com/e5f97471 https://paste.toolforge.org/view/c47babe6 https://gitlab.gnome.org/-/snippets/6066 https://notes.io/qDf4v https://ctxt.io/2/AABQfEFpFg https://jsfiddle.net/keinzywr13/wLrq60nc/ https://telegra.ph/fdgdfgd-08-26 https://ideone.com/Bl6idi https://pastebin.freeswitch.org/view/49bc4e5b https://git.forum.ircam.fr/-/snippets/7549 https://linktr.ee/ronakania46 https://solo.to/ronakania46 https://about.me/ronakania