Song of a Dying Summer, directed by Kohei Sengen, follows a group of teenage best friends, Natsu (Takeshi Yoshida), Haru, Fuyu and Aki, as they struggle to put on a stage play to commemorate their last summer together before they go their separate ways. Set and filmed in Japan, Song of a Dying Summer is also shot entirely in 8mm film, giving the feature a nostalgic quality that perfectly captures the bittersweet tone of growing up, coming of age, and saying goodbye to the childhood you once knew. The care imbued in this story is present in every lovingly crafted frame as the languid pace draws in the audience and reminds them of their own hot teenage summers.
The plot is simple, but it gives the cinematography and visuals room to breathe, bathing the audience in a grainy, hazy light. The dialogue is earnest, friendly and realistic; it is not unbelievable to picture people talking to each other in this simple, easy way. We open on a gray and blue beach, the ocean and sand blending together under a cloudy sky. A young man is running over the sand, digging, scrabbling around. He’s joined by three other boys who begin to run with him, his friends; they talk, laugh, roughhouse and joke. The movie will rarely separate them again. Long, quiet streets, trees limned in summer sun, the bottom of underpasses and long winding concrete staircases come next, setting the stage for the boys’ story. They frequently wander into the frame during these establishing shots, almost laconically, not a care in the world for their surroundings because they are so familiar.
As the movie progresses, we watch the boys try to make their final dream come true, bringing together their own unique talents and reconciling with the unspoken reality of what will happen when the summer ends. The culmination of the movie is the completion of the song referenced in the title, the song of their last dying summer. But this song isn’t made up of traditional lyrics and music, it comprises the myriad of sounds that make up their last summer. The birdsong we hear through the windows at the beginning, the crash of waves on a beach, the honks, and blast of horns on the street, the rattle of a fan, the sounds of their jokes and conversations, the sound of their mingled laughter, the sounds of footsteps and rustling grass. These sounds are the music and lyrics of our lives, performed over and over again and there is no end to the song, just another stanza. As the film ends, we see that their lives will continue on their different paths, but they will all take something from their last summer together. The final line of their play is advice, blessing and warning wrapped in one: cherish the obvious things. Cherish the mundane and the ordinary and the things you see all the time because they are taken for granted. Cherish the birds singing and the wind blowing and the cicadas buzzing because one day, you will not be able to anymore. And with this last task given to us and them, the movie ends on a note of hope and a bouquet of flowers.
Don’t miss Song of A Dying Summer which is screening at the 2023 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 17th online for 24 hours on this date. To buy tickets go here. For General Info on the Film Festival go here: https://newjerseyfilmfestivalspring2023.eventive.org/welcome
