With a broken family and spirit, Jun is trapped in her shell until the day her class is given a task. Her class must stage a musical. It’s from this point forward that both Jun and the movie emerge from its shell.
To guide the movie to its conclusion, Tatsuyuki focuses on several themes and techniques. In particular, the pronounced narration is amazingly executed. Similar to common fairy tales, having a narrator pronounce events--the “once upon a time...” of events, so to speak--ties into Jun’s perspective. Jun copes with her past by making it into a fairy tale. Thus, utilizing narration helps viewers understand her mindset.
When directors use narration, they have to be careful not to use it too much. Overusing narration as an expository technique can defeat the purpose of a visual medium, the guiding principle being: show don’t tell. However, the narration is more than just exposition in The Anthem of the Heart. Not only does it highlight her fairytale escapism, but it creates a juxtaposition between past and present. Reality and present. Fairy tales and past. Which one will she choose?
Jun’s social anxiety (her trauma) is tied to her past and her unwillingness to confront it. Closing herself up in a shell, she cannot open up and face reality. The problem now is how to make a character with no voice “speak.” The director does this in several ways, but the main way is by “translating” it--making a character’s thoughts heard through a different medium.
Speaking is only one way of expression. Having no voice isn’t the same as having no expression. Body language, in particular, is abundant in this movie. It’s also a common way directors can show a character’s thoughts. When a character hesitates to speak, their body can say something. The nervousness of the hands, the expression or lack of expression on their faces, the slumped shoulders of someone’s back as they are isolated, so many things can speak in place of words.
Arts can also be a means of self-expression, and it’s evident that the movie uses both writing and music as Jun’s therapy. The theme of “translating,” especially, comes out with the music. Music in this movie is an integral part of its plot--the characters have to stage a musical. However, it is also used to explain its themes.
Singing, somehow, is the key to her voice--she can communicate with it despite how she’s cursed. Her thoughts can come out through a different medium, unimpeded by her trauma. The characters borrow from a history of famous songs and through them, the music allows them to move past their obstacles--their own individual “curses.” As they sing in their musicals, they are “translating” the song. They are putting words to music that never had lyrics. For Jun, who had lost her voice, the act of transcribing these songs with words parallels her own journey: the journey to make sense of her own emotions and finally say them.
It’s easy to see this movie’s appeal. The obstacles these fictional characters overcome parallels real-world struggles. Social anxiety and acceptance, coping with the past and present, and trauma and healing will be the focus of the listed movies. Film techniques and structure such as a focus on body language, creative uses of narration, and montages (music and “translation”) were also considered for the listed movies.
If you enjoyed this film, I hope you watch one of the recommendations. Hopefully one will speak to you as The Anthem of the Heart did.
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