Florida Film Festival Movie Review: Bicycle (Jitensha)

In the short drama Bicycle, we meet Mamoru (Yugo Saso), a bitter, socially isolated introvert; lonely at home, unliked at work.

A drunken colleague punches him out at a bar, creating a shame spiral that causes him to quit his job.

Luckily, he has his trusty commuter bike. Only he doesn’t.

Parts of it go missing. He leaves an annoyed note to the thief, as a seat, wheel and other bits disappear, night after night. The thief responds and signs his letters “God.”

And on the day the next to last part disappears, Mamoru gets a letter — “This is the world in which you live,” God writes. Then he tells the misanthrope where the various parts of his bike are. He must visit a single mom, a street vendor (who talks him into taking over the blanket where he spreads his wares), a beach comber and others, meeting, interacting with and charming the new owner out of the parts they now possess.

Dean Yamada’s short film is warm and charming, with a mystique that is uniquely Japanese or at least how others perceive the Japanese — where social order and teamwork are king.  I could certainly see this as a longer, feature length exploration of seeing the world and yourself through others’ eyes.

This is the theater that seats 1400 people.

Leilani and I had the privilege of traveling to France during the first week of February to screen Jitensha at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. There is a reason why this festival is considered the most important event for short films in the world. Not only do buyers and distributors come here to do business, festival programmers from some of the best short film festivals make the trip yearly as do audiences from all over Europe. They all descend upon this beautiful city to celebrate the art of the short film.

Contrary to what many Americans think about the French, the people of Clermont-Ferrand (as well as Paris) were extremely kind and accommodating. I felt privileged to be a part of this culture that has such a high regard for the short film format. The audiences were awe-inspiring. The sheer number of cinephiles waiting to get into screening after screening was jaw dropping.

On the night that we arrived, Jitensha screened in the Cocteau Theater, which seats 1400. The theater was filled nearly to capacity. When our program ended, there was a ridiculously long line waiting to get into the theater to see the next program. It was like this at every venue around the city, even at the most awkward times. We tried to see a shorts program at 10:15pm at Centre Jaude and about 150 people were turned away– many of whom were visibly upset. Fortunately, Leilani and I waited until the crowds dispersed and were allowed to sneak in since we didn’t mind sitting on the floor.

Thankfully, Jitensha was well received in France. On top of that, so many fellow filmmakers enjoyed our film—one even said that Jitensha is the kind of film that makes him want to be a better person. It was an honor to get to know these accomplished filmmakers from around the world. I also had the opportunity to meet a handful of filmmakers who are based in Berlin and who want to help on our next project, which shoots in Berlin this summer.

I am continually grateful for these festivals that Jitensha is getting into. God’s grace never ceases to amaze me. Next up we have the Sedona International Film Festival (late February), the Davis Film Festival (March 13^th), the Method Fest (late March), the Florida Film Festival (mid-April) and the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (one of my personal favorites). We also picked up another award given by my peers in the academic world—the Broadcast Educators Association. I will be given the Best of Fest award in a ceremony at this year’s conference in Las Vegas.

Thanks for continuing to follow our journey.

Wow, what a journey it’s been– and hopefully it doesn’t end here with the finished film screening on the 15th of this month.  Please keep up with our updates because we hope to be traveling around the country with “Jitensha.”  This is a project we all believed in; so much so that we committed to traveling abroad and shooting it for seven days straight.  Now we’re committed to getting it out into the world.  When we first saw a little teaser of the film at our wrap party, we were almost brought to tears because of the whole experience.  Our hope is that this translates onto the screen as something magical.  We were filled with wonder during our time in Japan and we hope that you will be filled with this same emotion as you watch “Jitensha.”

Special thanks to James and Anderson at Ming Island Design for creating this amazing site.  Also, to Gregg Katano at Hi-Ground Media for their post-production services and to Jon Berkowitz for putting us in touch with them.  And to Paul Nethercott and his team at Studio Re:.  So many people have given so much to make this project happen– we are grateful.