Dreams for Sale / 夢売るふたり / Yume Uru Futari

Once again, Miwa Nishiwaka creates a black comedy that upends the table on moral certainty. Her filmic vision has been growing from the somewhat easy, though well-done, skewering of social mores in Hebi ichigo to the study of a man trying to do good, even though he misrepresents himself, in Dear Doctor, to a new variation in Dreams for Sale. Here we’re introduced to young couple, Kanya (Sadao Abe) and Satoko (Takako Matsu), trying to make a go of it in the restaurant business. On their opening day, the place is burnt to the ground. Kanya falls into depression, but by sheer happenstance during a drunken night out he falls into the arms of equally drunk woman who gives him a healthy wad of cash the next morning. Bingo! With the complicity of his wife a marriage fraud scheme develops. But his relationships with those other than his wife bring their house of cards down. Mishikawa and her mighty ensemble of actors bring a sly humor and delicate balance to a very touchy theme.

Originally published in EL Magazine, Sept. 2012.