Made way back in 1982, 転校生 (Exchange Students) starts with a premise that you’ve heard a thousand times; two people switch bodies, hilarity ensues. But wait! Come back! This isn’t some Freaky Friday ripoff. This is one of the most rewarding films I’ve watched in a long time, and believe me when I state that this film is one of my favourite Japanese films. Ever.
But woah, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. I’ll start with background. The film was directed in the early 80s by Nobuhiko Obayashi, who has gained a reputation in Japan both through his earlier surreal works, and his later successes in more mainstream film. Other famous films of his, none of which I’ve seen (yet) include The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and last year’s Before That Day.
Alright, history is boring. Let’s get down to it. There’s a few reasons why I truly loved this film. Firstly, it’s very realistic for such a surreal idea. I know that sounds odd, but what I mean is after the bizarre part (the two characters falling down the stairs of a shrine together and swapping bodies), the way they interact with each other, and indeed themselves, is very believable.
The whole ‘wow I have breasts now!’ thing is done pretty well, and every time it’s brought up it’s quite funny in a new way, rather than rehashing the same joke. It’s funny, but it’s eclipsed by the characters dealing with the social implications, restrictions and, er, urination approach of the opposite gender. Kazumi (who becomes the boy) becomes the target of a lot of bullying because she fails to hide feminine linguistic and physical habits – in the same way Kazuo (who becomes female) earns a reputation as a ‘wild girl’ because his way of reacting to his loss of masculinity is to act aggressively towards other characters. It’s all very funny, but at the same time very realistic, if you get what I mean.
So well done to the director then. But the real winner here isn’t the director, it’s actress Satomi Kobayashi. Whilst actor Toshinori Omi does a good job acting the shy and coy girl, and the acting throughout the whole film is consistently good, Kobayashi shines above everyone. The way she speaks, her body language and even her facial expressions just reminded me of a bored schoolboy all the way through the film. I remember at one point all she is doing is walking up a hill, and even though she’s wearing a skirt I still felt ‘that is a male character’. She really sticks to the character too – more than once in the film her upper body is totally exposed and still she’s 100% in character. Her expression doesn’t even flicker.
I’m finding it quite hard to pick fault with this film. I suppose the fact it was made nearly thirty years ago means the hairstyles and clothing have dated a bit, but then you could say that about some of the greatest films in the world, so that’s not a real complaint. I suppose the conclusion is very predictable, at least in the case of the body swapping. But there’s also a crushing and tragic finality to the relationship of the characters that I won’t spoil here, but I will say it’s overpowering, and rounds the film off nicely.
Ultimately then, we have possibly my favourite Japanese film. It’s got a lot of competition but I really have fallen in love with it. It’s impossibly sweet, funny without being ridiculous, and a fantastic showcase for the awesome talent of Kobayashi Satomi. I give this film 5 discarded Freaky Friday DVDs out of 5.
