Film review: Mrs. Noisy | ミセス・ノイズィ(2019); Dir.: Chihiro Amano

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – 4/5.

Author: Maxime Hallatu | Runtime: 106 min. | Director: Chihiro Amano | Year: 2019

During the premiere of the comedy film Mrs. Noisy | ミセス・ノイズ (2019), which was shown during CinemAsia Film Festival 2020, I just laughed and sympathized with the main characters of the story. The film brought tears of joy and sorrow to my eyes. At the same time, Mrs. Noisy evoked many emotions and gave me new insights of life itself.

Mrs. Noisy

The main characters in Mrs. Noisy | ミセス・ノイズィ (2019) are a writer named Maki Yoshioka (Yukiko Shinohara) who wrote a successful book and her neighbor Miwako Wakata (Yoko Ootaka). Maki is going through a writer’s block after moving with her family. Maki then is irritated by her neighbor who is making a lot of noise, in her opinion, every time she puts out her futon on the balcony. When she also discovers that her daughter, who she does not give enough attention, is staying at her neighbor’s house, she explodes. This creates a quarrel and exploding behavior between the two neighbors which then spreads like wildfire on social media. Will it ever work out between the two? Or will it destroy their lives?

To view a story from multiple angles

The thoughts behind the story represent an important life lesson for everyone. Namely that everyone has their own story and reasons that explain why a person is the way he or she is. By displaying the perspective of the neighbor, it gave the film a lot of depth and it creates an understanding of the situation as a whole. The irritation from Maki who has just moved and would like to work on her new book. While the neighbor who has a problem with her work and husband is seen as a burden by Maki which causes high tensions. Nobody is immediately bad because of their behavior and often there is always an underlying reason. Maki’s daughter also feels the effects of everything that happens around her. Maki’s daughter represents innocence in the film and all that she was asking for was some attention.

Social Media

Social media is one of the great ‘tools’ used in this film. Videos spread over the internet like a raging fire about the fights and quarrel between both neighbors and it is, therefore, important to realize that social media can distort or exaggerate everything. The way that videos are edited or adding a certain text to a movie that is spread on social media gives a certain tone or message that effects people when they see the video or image. This happens in many different ways throughout the film. Firstly with the neighbor who is portrayed as crazy and her husband as a pedophile. Such misrepresentations can also occur in real life. Don’t immediately believe everything you see or hear from social media. We may be talking here about a good example of what fake news! can do.

Chihiro Amano

Chihiro Amano is known for her oeuvre consisting of Confessions of Figaro | フィガロの告白 (2012), which won the top prize at the Shitamachi Comedy Film Festival in Tokyo, All is Vanity | 色即是空 (2013) which was screened at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival and No Touching At All | どうしても触れたくない (2014). The Talkshow and Q&A with the filmmaker Chihiro Amano was not only insightful but also funny because, despite the modest impression she has, she also likes to joke. In addition, she found it important to discuss the main theme, which is that a story should be viewed from multiple angles.

Highly aesthetic viewing experience?

Mrs. Noisy is not a highly aesthetic viewing experience in terms of cinematography, because that’s not the film’s focus. It is about the story that is also well filmed and portrayed. So don’t expect a Hollywood feel, but rather a story about people in everyday life through authentic video images. In addition, the image is not traditionally supported by music, but rather diegetic sound/music from an on-screen source, but sometimes also non-diegetic sound to enhance comedic moments.

Conclusion

CinemAsia Film Festival 2020 is the ideal platform for the Dutch debut of Mrs. Noisy. As a stage for Asian filmmakers, CinemAsia shows Asian films that we would otherwise never hear of in the Netherlands. Too bad, because Mrs. Noisy is definitely recommended to watch! Especially if you enjoy Asian cinema and hilarious Japanese comedy films. This comedy has a dosed sense of humor which makes it no slapstick and therefore not corny. What makes this film really strong is the content, the jokes, the physical exaggeration in these jokes and the underlying thoughts.

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