In Shinji Sōmai's 1993 film 'Moving', 12-year-old Renko Urushiba (Tomoko Tabata) navigates her parents' separation with a series of ploys to reunite them. The film opens with Renko setting a laboratory burner ablaze in class after being confronted for befriending a girl with divorced parents—a secret she shares.
Renko's father, Kenichi (Kiichi Nakai), is gentle but weary, while her mother, Nazuna (Junko Sakurada), is fiercely assertive, her affection hardening into impatience. Caught in Kyoto's summer downpours, Renko stirs up her own typhoon of chaos, locking herself in a bathroom to force a confrontation that shatters her innocence.
Sōmai's signature long takes and elaborate camera movements follow Renko as she dashes between her discordant parents, capturing the uncertainties of childhood. The film's 90s backdrop reflects Japan's 'lost decade'—the economic bubble burst that eroded faith in the nuclear family and the system that sustained it.
Kyoto's summer festivals, including the Gion festival and a bonfire rite, are woven into the narrative, linking domestic tensions with collective spirituality. In one scene, Renko disappears into a festival by Lake Biwa, where burning hay and torches cast a hypnotic glow, guiding her on a personal rite of passage.
As dawn breaks, Renko stops running, suspended between a lost past and an uncertain future. The film slows with her, carrying her away from childhood and disillusionment. 'Moving' is streaming on Mubi in Australia and the UK, and on Criterion Channel in the US.
