When I produced Asako I & II's Blu-ray I wanted material to fill out the disc and asked Ryusuke Hamaguchi what might be on hand. Needless to say I was delighted when he sent a restoration of his 2003 film Like Nothing Happened, if not also confused by the huge runtime difference between it (43 minutes) and a seemingly identical feature (98 minutes).He sent the below clarification, and I figured this is as good a place as any to bank it for whoever needs reference:This is a graduation work-ish 8mm film that I made when I was a student at Tokyo University as a member of its film club. While shooting I was thinking it would be the last time to make a film like this. Actually, there's a 98-minute version. The story is about this guy who is pushed by his friends and trying to complete his late brother's unfinished 8mm film and his indecisive attitude confuses the others...This film has two parts — the second is a film-within-a-film being screened inside the film as it is. This is what we call the short version (43 minutes). We have screened only this one for a while. The first part, which shows the process of making the film, had too many technical problems, especially the focus and the lighting. The second part had relatively fewer technical problems so we thought it'd be more smooth to watch. That's why we decided to show only the second part — the short version.Sometimes we accept requests to screen the long version but I feel ashamed every time it's shown. On the other hand, in spite of the fact that there are still some technical difficulties, I found the short version one of the most beautiful films that I shot.
