Beneath the shadow:

warning: spoiler alert

Konno & Hiasa

This movie has two main characters, Konno (Ayano Go) and Hiasa (Hirano Kirani). Although it can be said that this story is about both of them, I truly feel is the story of Hiasa where Konno gets involved.

As we can see when the movie starts, we get a view of how Konno is, he is a lonely man that lives a repetitive rutinary simple life where he goes to work and at home, the only thing that he truly cares about is his plant (having an important meaning in his life which we are not told about).

Suddenly one day at work he meets Hiasa, which at first sight we can see is a very sociable and popular man the gets along well with everybody having fishing as his hobby, that we can later see shares with Konno.

As the movie progresses we can see how the presence of Hiasa changes Konno in a good way, making him smile more, participate in more activities, finding a new hobby (fishing with Hiasa) and drinking.

After some time, one morning Konno is told that Hiasa suddenly quit his job, and he doesn't meet with Konno in a long time. We can see how Konno goes back to his normal "boring" and repetitive life without Hiasa's presence.

After a few months Hiasa appears at Konno's house saying he is a top salesman in his new company, that celebrates funerals and weddings.

One day Hiasa comes to Konno's house asking him to sign a contract in his company, stating that if he doesn't sign it he would get fired.

Another night Hiasa goes again to Konno's house to have a drink at his house, where entered the night, Konno decides to reveal his true feelings kissing Hiasa, which he rejects. The next morning Konno wakes up thinking Hiasa would be gone, but he finds Hiasa smoking in his terrace smiling at him, after that they go fishing.

Some time later they decide to go camping and both of them are acting weird and thinking in silence, then suddenly Hiasa says " what you see is where the light hit for an instant, no more than that. When you look at someone you should look at the other side, the part where the shadow is deepest", leaving us with a feeling of discomfort, and leaving Konno confused.

Later, after going on a vacation trip, Hiasa disappears and doesn't return home in a period of three months. After this Konno, realizing he doesn't know anything about Hiasa, decides to visit his parent to search for some answers and make his disappearance official. Konno talks with Hiasa's father and is shocked at the answers he gets being this that Hiasa's father is no longer his father because of an official paper he signed and the strange called the father got from someone telling he knew Hiasa's secret.

Given all this information Konno decides to visit Hiasa's brother getting more questions instead of answers. Hiasa's brothers tells him he agreed with the father in not putting a searching warrant and that he doesn't know much about his brother, but he remembered his conduct during their mothers funeral, he remembered Hiasa looking around, not being worried about their mother death.

Near the end, Konno receives a letter from Hiasa's company with his sign in it and starts crying while being shocked at the letter.

To finish the movie, a year later Konno has restarted his life, and he even got a boyfriend, meaning he had finally accepted his sexuality. While he is fishing he seems to see Hiasa hiding in front of him in some bushes, and he remembers the important questions and statements he told him.

In my opinion, this is the story of Hiasa, a lost person that never ends to feel home, he has the feeling of not belonging anywhere. He has the ability or the social skill of being social and popular, but inside he never really feels comfortable.

I think when he finds Konno, he hopes he will make him feel belonging and he would truly understand him, but when he says the (what you see is where the light...) he is refering to himself, he wanted Konno to truly know him, not only to look at what he looks like or his surface, but his real him. After knowing Konno didn't fully understood him, I think he felt disappointed and he disappeared looking for his place.

I also think Konno truly loved Hiasa, but never really knew who he was. Hiasa left him without even giving an explanation at that left a brokenhearted and lost Konno. As Konno loves him, he tries to find him and to find an explanation to everything, to understand it.

I don't think it is entirely explained, but I don't think Konno finds an explanation, I just think that when he sees Hiasa's signature he realizes he will not find him, and he accepts his sexuality and his love for him.

I totally recommend this movie, because it shows how we can have that feeling of not belonging and how feelings aren't just one explainable things, but a mix of things. And this movie also shows how our actions can have repercussion in all the people that surround us.

thank you for reading,

movie freak, taiyoraise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj9Hu3xzxPI