Two Seasons, Two Strangers

ʏᴏᴜɴᴇss4.5

Somewhere Between Watching and Living😁●Most anticipated movies.. of 2025/26 rankedOne of those films where I completely forgot to think about the story because I was too busy staring at the cinematography and the nature around these characters. The first 20 or 30 minutes felt less like I was watching a movie and more like I was simply sitting somewhere inside it, watching the sea, the sky, the wind, the trees… everything felt so calm and natural.And somehow, 1h30 passed like it was 30 minutesThe first story is so simple, but Miyake somehow gets so much out of it. I was watching these two strangers talk, walk around, look at the sea, and do basically nothing extraordinary, yet I never felt bored. There’s something about the way he lets scenes breathe that made me genuinely enjoy just being there with them. The cinematography is beautiful, but what I loved more is how the nature never feels like it’s just there to look pretty. It feels like part of the film itself.Then the first story ends and the film suddenly becomes something else. I found myself paying much more attention to the story in the second half, especially to Lee and the strange, quiet interactions around her. I genuinely had that yeah, give me more of this feeling during the first part, and then Miyake followed it with this completely different kind of quietness that somehow worked even better for me.I really love how he can take such a simple story and make it feel this rich without forcing anything. No big dramatic moments, no constant dialogue trying to explain what the characters feel, just people existing, talking, travelling, thinking, and sometimes not knowing what to say.The performances are also really good, especially because so much of the emotion comes from small expressions and silences rather than big acting moments.There’s something incredibly peaceful about this movie. It made me slow down without me even noticing. I started it thinking I was going to watch a simple little drama, and ended up spending most of it just admiring the images, the landscapes, the silence, and the way Miyake finds beauty in things that should be completely ordinary.What a beautiful little film

eul4.5

"surprise and bewilderment blow me far away. i want to just stand there forerver, far away from words. but words always take hold of me without fail. everyday life is about naming the things and feeling around us and blending in... i'm in cage of words..."sometimes, we don't necessarily have to capture everything through words; after all, language is merely us attaching labels to our own thoughts. the film opens with a summer beach, yet strangely, all i felt was a subtle chill – not the usual vitality you’d expect from people at the beach in the sweltering heat, but rather an emptiness and a sense of detachment. that was the inner world of Lee, a screenwriter struggling with connection and communication.then, in the latter half, amidst snow-capped mountains and cold winds howling outside a small inn where she stays while traveling, i felt remarkably warmer. it was here that Lee gradually learned how to speak. i loved the innkeeper, he carried his own loneliness, the quiet isolation of someone left behind. yet through mere casual, wandering conversations, he managed to turn Lee from a woman afraid of speaking into someone who couldn't stop talking.it's a film with an exceptionally slow pace, and honestly, my attention drifted more than a few times. but then, listening to the waves, the rustling leaves, the summer rain on the beach, and eventually the crackling fire and mountain winds in the freezing winter – those sounds tethered me back. healing doesn't come from massive, dramatic shifts. it begins when we surrender control, step into the world as a total stranger, and simply embrace life as it is.

shookone

breaks my heart cause All the Long Nights is one of my favorite films of the 2020s but I've got nothing on this one. was thinking and thinking but it rushed by like a express train without leaving a mark. something about alienation and loneliness (themes usually up my sleeve) but at this point I'm more like making up stuff and got nothing to add. I've no idea what this wanted from me but maybe that's appropriate as well, enhancing my depression? apparently it's scoring well - winning the leopard in locarno - so good for them!