A group of children walking in an unfamiliar landscape stop to gaze in rapture at a garden full of colourful flowers. For a moment they seem to have forgotten the reason they have taken their journey; one lovely moment among many in Hirokazu Kore-eda's "I Wish," a meditation on how children would like their world to be that little bit better. The film has taken quite a while to reach this point. In a rather meandering exposition the elder of two brothers separated geographically by a family split comes to realise that his greatest wish is for them to be reunited again. He even wonders whether the smouldering volcano that dominates the town might one day burst, causing the mass exodus that could end in physical relocation and reconciliation. He paints a picture of the eruption, places it on a high point of his wall and gazes up at it from his bed. During the development that follows be excitedly learns that the passing of the two bullet trains on a newly constructed line joining his town and his brother's generates at their point of passing a force so powerful that anyone standing beside the track will have their wish come true - the very stuff of fairy tale here translated into a realistic contemporary setting. When both brothers gather together a few friends to make their collective wishes come true what has until then been a rather slow footed film cluttered with non-essentials suddenly springs to life. The two groups travelling from their two towns towards each other on their local line meet up at a country station. From this point there is magic in the storytelling. What I admire most about Kore-eda is his honesty. In real life not every wish can come true but every so often there can come about a coincidence that can in itself be something of a miracle. Here it takes the form of the children's chance encounter with very human "good fairies." the elderly couple who see in one of the girls a resemblance to a daughter whose company they no longer enjoy. This is just enough to get the children to the one place where they can be close enough to the bullet trains to scream their wishes. The rest of the films is the quietest of codas as the children return home with perhaps a wiser view of the world than when they set out.

I expected this film to be like an emotional bullet train, given the subject matter, but it is actually very subtle and very gentle, which is entirely appropriate. There are not the histrionics that you might expect from an American rendering of the same story. What you get is a gentle representation of the warmth, love, and differences that exist between two young brothers who have been recently separated by divorce, and who have to learn to move forward with change. Koki Maeda and his younger brother Oshiro were perfectly cast as the protagonist brothers Koichi (serious yet still capable of dreaming and having fun)and Ryonosuke (Slightly nuts, and inexhaustibly energetic, yet responsible beyond his years).The film handles a common situation with panache, and with a clear indication that this is a Japanese film depicting a uniquely Japanese approach to solving it. Wonderful! (I would love to know if the two boys are just playing themselves!)

I feel that if a film can maintain a national stance and still be a universally identifiable then it is a very good film. I sat down to watch I wish and was immediately taken away by the story and the innocence it encapsulates from the beginning. I must admit that maybe the film didn't live up to all of my expectations in terms of the reviews that I read but it was still a very well woven story that has been executed soundly by a talented filmmaker. The young cast were excellent and carried the story throughout leaving me envious at times and nostalgic with memories of my own childhood. The cinematography offered beautiful views of modern and rural Japan and the effect modernisation has had on the countryside, an underlying theme throughout. The music was very good and at times really gives you something extra, the musical sequences offer up some of the most enjoyable parts of the movie. Overall it is a very well rounded film that anybody in any part of the world can take something from and can serve to remind adults that we can still learn allot from young people. Not personally what I expected but still very good, I would definitely recommend.

If, as many have pointed out, Koreeda is Ozu's cinematic heir, then I Wish is Koreeda's take on Ozu's Good Morning. Both films focus on adorable young kids and Japanese family life, and I have no qualms about saying between the two films, Koreeda easily outdoes Ozu. Not only is Koreeda's depiction of children subtler and more intuitive (no fart jokes here), but he coaxes wonderfully naturalistic performances from his child actors. Is there a director alive who does better work with kids than Koreeda? The movie really takes flight once the kids hit the road on their quest, and I loved the Ozu-ish part where they meet an elderly couple that takes in all the children for a night. Just a wonderful movie with tons of heart. Puts the human in humanistic filmmaking.