映画【エンツォ】レーサーになりたかった犬とある家族の物語　名前に込められた願いと運命｜The Movie【the art of racing in the rain 】The Meaning and Destiny Behind the Name

-There is an English translation at the bottom of the text-

映画を観るときのマイルール

noteに初めて映画のことを書いた文章【サブスタンス】はたまごと鶏とシャイニング🍳でも軽く触れたのだが…
映画を観る時、noteの文章を書く時のわたしのマイルール》は…

映画のはなしの前に《わたし》のはなし

好きなカーレス映画

会社帰り。気分を変えていつもと違うルートで歩き、お店に入り少し文章を書きたいな…と入ったお店で席についてPCを開けた途端【ベイビードライバー】のEasy Like Sunday Morning～♪とフレーズが流れてきた。いま私は非常に気分がいい。

大概この歌詞の様に〈文章を書き終えた後は…〉なぜか身が軽くなったようになり、晴れた日曜日の朝おきた時のような清々しさを覚え…。最近ではちょっとしたクセになっている。

正式な？カーレスではないけれど、カーチェイスがある映画でダントツに好きなのは【ベイビー・ドライバー】

リメイク版の【ウェスト・サイド・ストーリー】や【きっと星のせいじゃない】【TOKYO VICE】のアンセル・エルゴート主演。音楽と車が好きな人でまだ観ていない方は是非観てほしい。

そんなに観ている方ではないはずだけど、今まで観たカーレース映画で一番好きなのは【フェラーリ】。【スターウォーズ】のカイロレンがエンツォ・フェラーリ役で、いい年の取り方をしているペネロペクルスが奥さん役で登場する。わたしは結婚した経験はないけれど、過去付き合った人に浮気をされたことがある。確証は取れなかったけれど、女の感というヤツだろうか。あれは絶対そうだった。そんな〈確証はないのだけれど、絶対そう〉と思考する奥さんの描写がすごくリアルだった。

そんなリアルさだけではない。私は全く詳しくないし、マニュアル車だって運転できないけれど…。クラシックカーが大好きだ。母がわたしが生まれる前に海外で買ってきたクラシックカーのミニチュアを、ガラス扉のこちら側から見つめるのが幼い頃大好きだった。
ただし車の知識がないわたしはこの【フェラーリ】を観るまで、イタリアのフェラーリショップに行ったことがあるのにも関わらず…。フェラーリは車のメーカーの名前としか認識しておらず、エンツォ・フェラーリという人がいたことを知らなかった。

わたしが生まれたきっかけ

わたしは多分とある、いぬがいなければ生まれていなかった。

わたしの両親は幼少期、いぬと共に育った。どちらも雑種だったそうだ。わたしはその、いぬたちには写真の中でしかあったことがない。それでも母方の祖父母の家に行くと今でも足元に飼っていた、いぬがいるように視線で追いながら…。そのいぬの名前をみんなが思い出話の中で連呼するのだ。

幼少期は母はその飼いいぬと同等に喧嘩をしたそうだ。わたしは『窓際のトットちゃん』を読んだり映像作品で観たりするたびに、ロッキーと名付けられたシェパードと黒柳徹子の幼少期…。飼いいぬと生物学的な違いなど、はなから感じていないかのように対等に過ごす〈母と飼いいぬ〉を重ねて思い出していた。

母は成長し、社会人になり当時としては珍しかったバブル期のキャリアウーマンとなった。男まさりで、結婚なんて全く興味のなかった母の価値観が崩れる出来事が起きた。当時、実家暮らしで寝食を共にしてきた飼いいぬがなくなったのだ。なんと20年以上も長生きした。そのいぬの葬儀後の帰りのバスの中、月が出ていたのをバスの窓からみた母は突然「結婚しなきゃ…」と思ったそうだ。

父の最後の手紙

映画【国宝】の文章でも〈父の手紙〉について少し書いたのだが、わたしの父はわたしが9歳になってすぐ亡くなった。その父がわたしに宛てた手紙が、亡くなった後で見つかった。本当に短い手紙で、小学生のわたしにもわかる内容で文章が書かれている。その中で大きく文字数を占めていたのがわたしの名前の由来だ。この手紙を書くのに、どんな内容が良いかすごくすごく考えてくれたのだと思う。今までは手紙をもらった自分側の視点でしか手紙の内容を考えられなかったが…。その想いを巡らせた父のことを思うと、胸が締め付けられる。

〈わたしの名前〉読み方はいたって普通なのだが、少し変わった漢字が使われている。例えば他社を訪れる時の入館受付では上司には下の名前は大概書いてもらえないし…。過去一発で書いた上司がいて、わたし自身「うぉっ」となったほどだ。笑
いつも漢字変換するときに病院などでは「どうやったら変換できますか？」と聞かれるし…。さらには名刺に書いてあるわたしの名前を見て「下の名前は何とお読みするのですか？」と聞かれることがほとんどだ。いまとなっては、ビジネスの名刺交換の場でフルネームを言うのはなかなか珍しいが、大概相手が一瞬みせる「？？？」という表情が見えた時には下の名前までいうようにしている。

名前は自分で戸籍上の名前を変更しようとしても、裁判所で認められないと変更もできない。それほどに一生をともにするものだ。その名前を付けた理由を最期の手紙に残してくれた父には感謝しかない。

京都に転勤が決まって最後にした母との旅行

関東に住んでいた新卒の頃、半年ほどだけ実家を出ていたことがあったが…。電車で1時間もしないところに住んでいた。そのため父のお墓がある京都への転勤が決まった時。例えば「夜中に母に何かあったとしたら…」新幹線が動いていなければ、すぐには帰ることが出来ない距離に行ってしまうことに不安があった。

そのため転勤が決まってから、もちろん《ここまで育ててもらったことの感謝》の意味もあったが一緒に旅行に行った。ただし旅先に行ってもどこかに出かけたり、あわただしく過ごすことがその頃は母は苦手なようだった。そのためその頃ちょうど話題になりかけていた星野リゾートの系列のホテルで、ゆっくり一緒に過ごす時間をプレゼントしたのだった。

そこで小さなころから、よく母と海外ドラマの一気観をしていたのでDVDを沢山持ち込んで部屋で観ることにした。そこで観たのが【ギルモア・ガールズ】だった。シングルマザーの母娘の物語だ。もちろんストーリーに惹かれて、このタイミングで観るにはぴったりのドラマだと思ったのもあるのだが…。「観ようっ」となったきっかけは当時、母と二人でハマっていた海外ドラマ【ディス・イズ・アス】の主人公ジャックが、娘のボーイフレンド役で出ていると知ったからだった。

ネタバレなしの映画の感想

レーサの主人公はドライブ中にブリーダーの看板をみて、1匹の子犬に出会い彼の人生は変わっていく。

カーレス重視の人には物足りないかも。でも最後まで見る価値あり。安心して犬のアテレコには、すぐ慣れるから…。日本では配信のみでの公開。もちろん動物を飼ったことがある人には夢のような作品。（139文字）

ネタバレありの感想

観て2日後の感想

わたしにとって最高なキャスティング

ちょうど観返していた【ミディアム】をシーズン７まで観終わってしまって、完全なるロスだった。そして〈わたしのはなし〉でも書いた【ディス・イズ・アス】も最終回まで観てしまい両ドラマとも終わり方も終わり方で…完全なるロスというより喪失状態だった。

そこに母からポロンとメッセージで「【ディス・イズ・アス】に出てるマイロが出ている【エンツォ　レーサーになりたかった犬とある家族の物語】観たいんだけど、サブスクに突然ログインできなくなっちゃった　助けて～」とメッセージが来たのだった。

母からのメッセージで「こんな映画あったのかっ」と普段慣れない仕事をしてた帰りで、今にも眠ることができそうだったのに…。〈いぬの映画は基本、悲しいから観ない〉と決めていたのにも関わらず観ずにいられなかった…。

見る前から、だいすきな【ディス・イズ・アス】のジャック役のマイロ・ヴィンティミリアが主演なのはわかっていたが…。

観始めたらなんと【ミディアム】で大好きなジョーの、お母さん役で出ていた彼女が出ているではないか…（わたしがどれだけジョーを愛していたかは、スーパーマンの文章を読んでみてほしい笑）。

さらにびっくりなのは彼女が、わたしが生涯のベスト10映画に入れたいと思っている【アイ・アム・サム】のアニー的ポジションなのだ。

もう最高な展開とキャスティングで、それだけで【エンツォ】を好きになってしまった。

さらにはアマンダ・セイフライドだ（彼女のファミリーネームのカタカナ表記は様々あるそう）。彼女を初めて知ったのは【マンマミーア】だ。映画館で観て好きすぎて、脳内でABBAの曲が流れるたびにマンションの一室で一人踊っていた。笑
今もたまにお店で有線などで流れてくるABBAの曲がきこえると、脳内では映画【マンマミーア】の映像が流れる。

いぬと会話が出来たらいいのにって思ったことない？

吹き替えでも字幕でも確認をしてみたのだが最初少しだけ、いぬのエンツォの声にびっくりする。アテレコされているのだけれど【ベイブ】みたいに、いぬの声が観ているこちらに聞こえる・語りかける設定だと知らないのでかなりびっくりした。

【エンツォ】の声はなんと、字幕版だとケビンコスナーが声をあてている。最初、何となく「トムハンクスの声かな」と想像していたのだけれど、最後のエンドロールでびっくりの名前が登場した。日本語吹き替えは声優さんについては全く詳しくないので、どなたかは存じ上げないし…。全編吹替で観たわけではないのだが、ケビンコスナーの声と聴き比べるとぴったりのキャスティングだった。

さらにお話が進んでいくとちょっと悲しいのだか、アマンダセイフライドが演じる奥さんの身体に異変があることに一番最初に気が付くのはエンツォだった。以前会社のひととの食事中に、トリフに香りをかいで「風邪のにおいがする」といった彼女のことを思い出した。彼女は、とってもかわいいボーダーコリーと一緒に暮らしていた。

彼女の病気について映画の中で描かれるとき、必ずエンツォは〈犬であることを悔やむ〉のだ。いぬの言葉がわかりたいではなく、話せたらいいのにと思うのは人間だけでなく《いぬも同じ》なのだとエンツォが教えてくれる。

名前に込められた運命

エンツォはレーサーである主人公デニ―が《エンツォ・フェラーリ》からつけた名前だ。デニーは、なかなかレースで好成績をおさめられずにいた。しかしながらエンツォを迎えたところから、人生が好転しだすのだ。
少ししてデイトナビーチのレースに呼ばれるのだった。車やレースについて知らないわたしはここで初めて《デイトナビーチでのレスーが存在する》と知るのだった。

この海外ドラマの【ディス・イズ・アス】でのデイトナビーチの情報しか知らないわたしは、終始この話題のシーンの最中ずっとこのTシャツのことばかり考えていた。

《悲しいから、いぬの映画は観ない》と決めていたわたしもラストのほうまで、無事に観ることができ「このまま泣かずに観られるかも…」と淡い期待を抱いた直後、本当のラストシーンでいぬは全く出てこないのにぼろ泣きしてしまった。

この映画を観終わって、次の日。昨日の金曜日の夜。バスに乗っているとふとコロナの時にわたしを支えてくれたチャンネルを、ふと思い出した。《シベリアンハスキーと飼い主のチャンネル》だった。最近、習い事や仕事で忙しくなってからYoutube自体観なくなってしまった。しかし本当に突然思い出したのだ。きっと「【エンツォ】についてこの文章を書こうかな～」と考えていたからだとは思う。

久しぶりに登録チャンネルから、さかのぼって動画を観てみると数か月前の投稿だ。「この動画で投稿は最後になります」という2分ほどの短い内容だった。その内容は飼っているシベリアンハスキーの体調が思わしくないこと。撮影すること自体が、飼いいぬの負荷になることだけは避けたいこと。一緒の時間を大切にしたいことが、テロップで書かれていた。

そして、その投稿からさらに数か月後に上げられた文字だけの投稿を観て私は唖然とした。コロナのなかのわたしを支えてくれた、その子は亡くなっていたのだった。もうわたしは悲しすぎて、わたし自身いぬを飼ったこともないのに自分のことの様にショックを受けた。

バスを降りても、いつものいえまでの道も全く違って見えた。父よりはるか後に亡くなった祖父母の死を知った時以来の喪失感だったと思う。こんな思いをするのなら《絶対に生き物は飼わない》と誓った帰り道だった。

かつてわたしは数度、生き物を飼ったことがある。それは保育園で恐竜や昆虫が大好きだった男の子から譲り受けたクワガタだったり、小学生の間で飼うことがことが一度は流行るハムスターだった。ジャンガリアンハムスターを、わたしは２代飼っていた。亡くなった悲しみが癒えた頃に、また新たに買ってもらったのだった。それも父の死後、亡くなったハムスターを最後に二度と飼わなかった。

その複数飼った、ハムスターにわたしは毎回必ず「チロ」と名付けた。
小学校１年の時に初めてハムスターを買ってもらい、初めてその名前を付けた時「本当にその名前にするの？なんで？」と父がわたしに聞いた。父はいつもにこにこわたしがすることを黙って見ていることが多かった。わたしのすることに理由を聞くことなんてめったになかったので、わたしは少し驚いたけれど…。理由は《ちろちろ動く》からだったので、ありのままを伝えた。

すると父は〈驚くべきはなし〉をわたしに、したのだった。父が小さいころ飼っていた白いいぬの名前が《チロ》だったというのだ。わたしはその時、初めて父がいぬを飼っていたはなしを聞いた。びっくりはしたが、その時はわたしは無邪気に過ごしてた。

そこから時は経ってコロナが落ち着いてきた頃。わたしは久しぶりに京都から、福岡に住む父方の親戚の家を訪ねた。そこでたくさんの〈父の子どもの頃の写真〉をみせてもらった。初めて見る写真ばかりで、父の幼いころの表情はわたしの小学校の頃の表情そのものだった。そのアルバムは一枚一枚、丁寧に横に集合写真なら写っている人の名前や場所・撮影年が達筆な字で書かれていた。
そこに《チロ》と写る父の写真を見つけた。初めて《父のチロ》に会った瞬間だった。

きっとデニーの娘ゾーイが引き合わせた、その男の子の名前を聞いたとき。この時のわたしと同じ気持ちになったことだろう…。

おまけ

【HEROES】面白いじゃないか

この文章を書いている途中で、知ったのだがわたしが【エンツォ】の大好きなマイロ ヴィンティミリアがなんとかの有名な海外ドラマ【ヒーローズ】に主演で出ているというではないか。まだシーズン1までしか観ていないので今後どうなるかはわからないが…面白い。話の展開が早すぎて一瞬でも目が離せない。

幼いころ〈めざましテレビ〉で日本人が海外で活躍しているという特集で一瞬、映った「ヤッター」と叫ぶドラマのイメージが強烈に焼きついていたのでノーマークすぎた。

アメコミが大好きなあなた。おすすめです。後は紹介する作品ほどの要素は少ないが…。

有名過ぎて【HEROES】を観てなかったという方で、興味があるあなた。観てみてはいかがでしょうか。

【バレリーナ The World of John Wick】についてちょっとした不満

わたしは映画を観る前や文章を書く前にはあまり、映画についての情報を入れないが…書き終わった後には気になることや他の人がどんな感想を持ったのかはかなりの確率でリサーチする。

前回みたジョンウィックシリーズの【バレリーナ The World of John Wick】についてリサーチする中で「良かった、わたしだけじゃなかった」のかと思った感想がいくつか見られたので少し触れたい。

ちなみに感想をリサーチするときはRotten Tomatoes（英語サイト　英語が全くできないのでパーセンテージをみる程度）かnote、後はフィルマークスが多い。以前にも少し書いたことがあるがフィルマークスは作品名で検索すると、どのサブスクで配信されているかすぐにわかるので便利。

本題の不満だが《バレリーナ要素少なくない？？？？》だ。幼少期からダンスに慣れ親しんできたからこそ今回の【バレリーナ】のタイトルをみて、この映画みてみたいと思ったきっかけでもあった。

この件に関しては「わたしが過度な期待をしていただけだろう」と、自分を慰めることもできた。しかしもっとも許せなかったのは、あんなにかわいい女優《アナ・デ・アルマスもっとかわいく、きれいに描けただろっ怒》ということだった

な・の・に…だ。彼女の魅力を最大限に発揮しているとは言いがたがった。しかしこの感情にも、わたしを腑に落としてくれる情報にヒットした。これもコロナ中わたし支えてくれYoutubeのチャンネルの一つだが、映画紹介をこってこての関西弁でしてくれる人がいた。彼の更新はしばらく止まっていたのだがなんと久しぶりにYoutubeを開けてみたら【バレリーナ】を取り上げて更新されているではないか。

文章も書きあげたあとだったので早速聞いてみると《銃のプロモーション》について触れられていた。すべてが納得だった。銃にフォーカスをあてているとするならば、最初から最後まで動画の構図について納得がいった。

《あーすっきり》はしたのだが…。やっぱりメイクやヘアスタイルもっと何とかできただろうと、思ってしまうのはわたしだけでなかったとリサーチして安心した。【バレリーナ】のメイキングのほぼスッピンアナ・デ・アルマスのほうが断然かわいいので興味ある方は是非笑

可愛い女の子をかわいく撮るって…。この文章↑を書いているときには気が付いていなかったけれど…。なかなかすごいことなのだとわかった作品だった。

映画館のホットコーヒー

普段あまりネガティブなことは書かないようにしているが苦笑。不満繋がりで…。大手の映画館のホットコーヒーってなんであんなに美味しくないのだろう。わたしは毎朝、自分でコーヒーをハンドドリップするほどコーヒーが大好きだ。どの豆じゃなきゃイヤとか、そこまでこだわりのある方ではないとおもっていたが…。大手の映画館のコーヒーは〈いただけないことが多い〉ので最近では、はなから買うのを辞めてしまった。

しかしつい昨日、映画館のコーヒーがとっても美味しかったのでどうしても報告したい笑
梅田を通るついでに「せっかくだし何か映画を観たいな～」とリサーチをしているとnoteでやたら感想をみてポスターも、お気に入りだったので「後で観るかも」と事前情報を入れないわたしは、なかなかnoteでTop画像だけ見て文章を開くことができずにいた【マルティネス】。

調べてみるとミニシアター系でしか上映されていなかったので、京都の烏丸御池のアップリンクかテアトル梅田でしか上映されていない。ランチ後に観る上映時間は《テアトル梅田がちょうどよかった》。しかし過去に、あまり印象の良くない映画を観た思い出があったからか…。駅から灼熱の中まあまあ歩く距離だし…。と、かなり期待を下げてテアトル梅田へと向かった。

すると…なんということだろう。数年前に来た時から大幅なリニューアルがされていた。これは期待できそうと、ランチ後だったのもありホットコーヒーを注文した。「そういえばシネリーブル梅田からテアトル梅田に名前もかわってる」と思いながらカウンター席に座り、この文章の冒頭を書いていた。すこしして注文したホットコーヒーをすすると、とっても美味しかった。大手映画館のあのコーヒーをイメージして飲んだからかもしれないが、映画中少し冷めても美味しくいただいた。

さらにはカウンター席にはコンセントが設置されており、ソファー席も最高にくつろぐことが出来る空間となっていた。普段あまり行かないミニシアターだがあの空間と、美味しいコーヒーを持ち込んでの映画時間を楽しめるのであれば…。多少、駅から歩いてでも通いたいと思う映画館だった。本文章はお金をいただいて特定の、お店などをプロモーションはしておりません。笑

おしまい

My Movie-Watching Rules

I touched on this lightly in my first movie-related piece on note, [Substance], "The Egg, the Chicken, and The Shining 🍳," but here are my movie-watching and note-writing rules:

Before the Movie: A "Me" Story

My Favorite Car-Related Movie

On the way home from work, I took a different route to change things up. I went into a cafe, wanting to write a bit, and as soon as I sat down and opened my laptop, "Easy Like Sunday Morning" from [Baby Driver] started playing! I'm in a great mood right now.

Like the lyrics say, after I finish writing, I feel lighter, like I've woken up on a sunny Sunday morning. It's become a bit of a habit lately.

It's not strictly a "car movie," but my absolute favorite movie with car chases is [Baby Driver].

It stars Ansel Elgort (from the remake of [West Side Story], [The Fault in Our Stars], and [Tokyo Vice]). If you love music and cars and haven't seen it yet, please give it a watch.

I haven't seen that many, but my favorite car racing movie is [Ferrari]. Kylo Ren from Star Wars plays Enzo Ferrari, and Penélope Cruz, who's aging gracefully, plays his wife. I haven't been married, but I've been cheated on in the past. I couldn't be sure, but it was a woman's intuition thing. I was absolutely sure. That "not sure, but absolutely" thinking of the wife was so realistic.

It's not just the realism. I'm not knowledgeable about cars, and I can't even drive a manual, but I love classic cars. When I was little, I loved looking at the classic car miniatures my mom bought overseas before I was born, gazing at them from behind the glass door. However, until I saw [Ferrari], despite having been to a Ferrari shop in Italy, I only knew Ferrari as a car brand and didn't know there was a person named Enzo Ferrari.

The Reason I Was Born

I probably wouldn't have been born if it weren't for a certain dog.

Both of my parents grew up with dogs. They were both mixed breeds. I've only seen them in photos. Still, when I go to my maternal grandparents' house, I still follow where the dog used to be with my eyes, as if it were there. Everyone repeats its name in their reminiscing.

When my mom was little, she used to fight with that dog. Whenever I read or watch [Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window], I think of Mom spending time with her dogOkay, here's an English translation of the provided text, aiming to capture the tone and nuances of the original Japanese:

My mother grew up, became a career woman during the bubble economy, which was rare at the time. An event happened that shattered my mother's values, who was a tomboy and had no interest in marriage. The dog she had been living with at home for over 20 years passed away. On the bus home after the funeral, my mother saw the moon through the bus window and thought, "I have to get married..."

When I was a child, my mother showed me "E.T." I was so moved to see a movie I had been watching on TV since I was a child on the big screen for the first time last year, especially in IMAX Laser.

My Father's Last Letter

I wrote a little about "letters" in my article about the movie "National Treasure," but my father passed away shortly after I turned nine. A letter from my father to me was found after he died. It was a very short letter, written in a way that even a elementary school student could understand. The part that took up the most space was the origin of my name. I think he thought very hard about what to write in the letter. Until now, I had only thought about the contents of the letter from my own perspective, but when I think about my father's thoughts, my heart aches.

I love the message that the father writes on the desk for his son in "Frequency." I believe that feelings will always be conveyed, no matter what form they take.

Wait, wait, wait... I just found out while searching for images that the dad I love in "Frequency" is the guy from "Substance"?! Whoa!

My Name The reading of my name is quite normal, but it uses slightly unusual kanji. For example, when visiting other companies, my boss usually doesn't write my first name on the entry form, and there was one boss who wrote it correctly on the first try, which surprised me. Haha. When converting kanji, I'm often asked at hospitals, "How do I convert this?" Furthermore, when people see my name on my business card, they almost always ask, "How do you read your first name?" It's rare to say your full name in a business card exchange these days, but I usually say my first name when I see the "???" expression on the other person's face.

"Your Name," a work that surprised me because it was too familiar with the scenery from the train that I had been familiar with since elementary, junior high, high school, and university. At that time, I was working on a book-making job, and the type of book that was very active in the work made me cry in a strange scene, probably only me in the theater.

You can't change your name on the family register unless it's approved by the court. It's something you'll be with for your whole life. I'm grateful to my father for leaving the reason for giving me that name in his last letter.

The Last Trip with My Mother After I Was Transferred to Kyoto

When I graduated from college, I lived away from home for only about half a year, but I lived less than an hour away by train. Therefore, when I was transferred to Kyoto, where my family's grave is located, I was worried that if something happened to my mother in the middle of the night, I wouldn't be able to get back right away if the bullet train wasn't running.

Therefore, after it was decided, I went on a trip with her, of course, with the meaning of "thank you for raising me so far," but I also wanted to spend time together. However, my mother didn't like going out or spending time in a hurry at that time. Therefore, I gave her a gift of spending time together slowly at a hotel in the Hoshino Resorts series, which was just becoming a hot topic at that time.

There, I brought a lot of DVDs because I had been binge-watching overseas dramas with my mother since I was a child, and we watched them in the room. The drama we watched there was "Gilmore Girls." It's a story about a single mother and daughter. Of course, I was attracted to the story, and I thought it was the perfect drama to watch at this time, but the reason I decided to watch it was because I knew that Jack, the main character in the overseas drama "This Is Us," which my mother and I were hooked on at the time, was playing the daughter's boyfriend.

If there is anyone who hasn't seen the overseas drama "This Is Us," I want you to watch just the first episode of season 1.

While watching "Gilmore Girls," we were like, "Gyaaa, Jack is so young!" and we were just lazing around in the hotel.

Spoiler-Free Movie Review

The racer protagonist sees a breeder's sign while driving and meets a puppy, which changes his life.

It may not be enough for people who value car races. But it's worth watching to the end. Don't worry, you'll get used to the dog's voice acting right away. It's only released on streaming in Japan. Of course, it's a dream come true for people who have pets. (139 Japanese characters)

Spoiler-Filled Review (Continued)

Thoughts Two Days After Watching

The Best Casting for Me

I usually can't send money to my mother, so I share a subscription account with her as a "benefit" and a way to share our common hobby of "talking about movies."

I had just finished watching "Medium" up to season 7 and was completely lost. And I had also finished watching "This Is Us," which I wrote about in "My Story," to the final episode, and both dramas had endings that left me feeling completely lost, or rather, in a state of bereavement.

Then, my mother sent me a message saying, "I want to watch 'The Art of Racing in the Rain,' which stars Milo from 'This Is Us,' but I suddenly can't log in to the subscription service. Help!"Milo Ventimiglia also appeared in "Rocky," and he respects Sylvester Stallone, who has facial paralysis, and is also active as an actor despite having similar symptoms.

Because of this connection, Stallone appears in Milo's "This Is Us," and I cry just because he appears in the story. Stallone's unique way of speaking and Milo's smile with one corner of his mouth raised are some of my favorite features, even before I knew about his facial paralysis.

I thought, "There was such a movie!" I was on my way home from a tiring day at work and was about to fall asleep, and despite deciding that "I don't watch dog movies because they're basically sad," I watched it anyway... all the way to the end.

I knew from the beginning that Milo Ventimiglia, who played Jack in my favorite "This Is Us," was starring in it.

But when I started watching, I realized that the actress who played Joe's mother in my beloved "Medium" was in it! (If you want to know how much I loved Joe, please read my article about Superman, haha).

She died in the final season of "Medium," so even in scenes that had nothing to do with tears, I was already about to cry the moment she appeared.

She Plays the Wealthy Stepmother

What's even more surprising is that she has an Annie-like position in "I Am Sam," which I want to include in my top 10 movies of all time.

In "I Am Sam," Annie, the neighbor with agoraphobia who can't leave her house, shows Sam, who has intellectual disabilities, the milk feeding times on the TV schedule, and goes outside for Sam and his daughter Lucy.

It's the best development and casting, and I loved "The Art of Racing in the Rain" just because of that.

Furthermore, there's Amanda Seyfried (the katakana notation of her family name varies). I first knew her from "Mamma Mia!" I loved it so much that I danced alone in my apartment whenever ABBA's songs played in my head. Even now, when I hear ABBA's songs on the radio in stores, the images from "Mamma Mia!" play in my head.

You can see Colin Firth from "Bridget Jones," without any "Kingsman" vibes.

Amanda was also good as Cosette in "Les Misérables," but I also like "Fathers and Daughters."

Haven't You Ever Wished You Could Talk to Dogs?

I checked both the dubbed and subtitled versions, and I was a little surprised by Enzo's voice at first. It's dubbed, but I didn't know that the dog's voice was set to be heard by the viewers, like in "Babe," so I was quite surprised.

In "Babe," which I watched when I was little, all the animals talk, and the animals talk more than the humans.

However, in "The Art of Racing in the Rain," Kevin Costner voices Enzo in the subtitled version. At first, I vaguely imagined that it was Tom Hanks' voice, but I was surprised to see Costner's name in the end credits. I don't know anything about voice actors in the Japanese dub, and I didn't watch the whole movie dubbed, but when I compared it to Kevin Costner's voice, it was a perfect casting.

Furthermore, as the story progresses, Enzo is the one who notices that Amanda Seyfried's character, the wife, has a physical abnormality, which is a little sad. I remembered a colleague who once smelled truffles during a meal and said, "It smells like a cold." She lived with a very cute Border Collie.

When her illness is depicted in the movie, Enzo always "regrets being a dog." Enzo teaches us that it's not just humans who want to be able to talk, but "dogs too" want to be able to talk, not just understand words.

My father passed away at home, and this movie reminded me of that moment. I also felt it when my grandfather died, but people emit a unique scent that cannot be expressed when they die...

The Destiny Encoded in a Name

Enzo is named after Enzo Ferrari by Denny, the racer protagonist. Denny was not able to achieve good results in races. However, his life begins to improve from the time he welcomes Enzo. He is then invited to the Daytona Beach race. I, who don't know anything about cars or races, learned for the first time here that "races exist at Daytona Beach."

In "This Is Us," a college student talks about Daytona Beach to get his daughter to wear a T-shirt he bought in college, and the father who was at the scene with the college students partying makes his daughter promise that she "will not go to Daytona Beach." This T-shirt later appears as a key item when the daughter grows up.

I, who only knew about Daytona Beach from "This Is Us," was constantly thinking about this T-shirt during this scene.

I, who had decided "I don't watch dog movies because they're sad," was able to watch it safely until the last part, and I had a faint hope that "I might be able to watch it without crying," but I burst into tears in the real last scene, even though no dogs appeared at all.

Denny, who fulfills his dream and climbs the path of a racer, is approached by his daughter, Zoe, who brings a boy with her.

After watching this movie, the next day, last Friday night, I was on the bus when I suddenly remembered a channel that supported me during the pandemic: "Siberian Husky and Owner Channel." I haven't been watching YouTube itself since I got busy with lessons and work. But I suddenly remembered it. I think it's because I was thinking about "writing this article about 'The Art of Racing in the Rain.'"

I went back through my registered channels for the first time in a while and watched the videos, and I found a short, two-minute video from a few months ago that said, "This will be the last post." The content was that the Siberian Husky they were raising was not in good condition, and they wanted to avoid making the filming itself a burden on the dog. They wanted to cherish the time they had together, and it was written in the subtitles.

Then, a few months after that post, I was stunned to see a text-only post that was uploaded. The child who had supported me during the pandemic had passed away. I was so shocked that I felt like it was happening to me, even though I had never owned a dog.

Even after getting off the bus, the road to my house looked completely different. It was the first sense of loss I had felt since I learned of the deaths of my grandparents, who had passed away long after my father. I vowed that I would "never keep a living thing" if I was going to feel like this.

I had kept living things several times in the past. It was a stag beetle that I received from a boy in kindergarten who loved dinosaurs and insects, or a hamster that was once popular among elementary school students. I had two generations of Djungarian hamsters. After they died, I was bought a new one when the sadness had healed. But after my father's death, I never kept a hamster again after the last one died.

I named all the hamsters I kept "Chiro." When I got my first hamster in the first grade of elementary school and named it that for the first time, my father asked me, "Are you really going to name it that? Why?" I was a little surprised because he rarely asked me the reason for what I did, but I told him the truth: it was because it "moves around a lot."

On my 9th birthday, my grandparents bought me the last hamster, and my father died about a month after that child came.

Then, my father told me a "surprising story." The name of the white dog that my father had when he was little was "Chiro." It was the first time I had heard that my father had a dog. I was surprised, but I spent that time innocently.

Then, several years later, I visited my father's relatives for the first time in a long time. There, I was shown many "photos of my father as a child." They were all photos I had never seen before, and my father's expressions as a child were exactly the same as my expressions in elementary school. Each album was carefully written with the names of the people in the group photos, the location, and the year of the photo in beautiful handwriting. I found a photo of my father with "Chiro." It was the first time I had met my father's Chiro.

Surely Denny's daughter, Zoe, felt the same way I did at this time when she heard the boy's name...

Bonus

[HEROES] is Actually Good!

I just found out while writing this that Milo Ventimiglia, who I love, is starring in some famous overseas drama called [Heroes]! I've only watched season 1 so far, so I don't know what will happen in the future, but... it's interesting! The story unfolds so quickly that you can't take your eyes off it for even a second.

When I was little, I had a strong image of a drama where a Japanese person was shouting "Yatta!" on a segment about Japanese people succeeding overseas on the morning show Mezamashi TV, so it was completely off my radar.

This guy was educated as a gifted child, speaks fluent Japanese even though he was born in America, and surprisingly, speaks entirely in Japanese in this drama! I was totally blown away!

If you love American comics, I recommend it. And although it doesn't have as many of the same elements as the works I'm going to introduce, if you like...

...[Sense8], although there aren't that many telepathic elements.

...[SPEC], although there aren't many comedic elements.

...[Stranger Things], although there aren't any 80s elements at all.

...If you're okay with splatter depictions like in [Hannibal].

I fell asleep while watching [Heroes] and woke up from a pretty gruesome dream.

If you haven't watched it because it's too famous, and you're interested, why not give it a try?

If you were watching [Glee]...

...these two make guest appearances, so I recommend it.

A Little Complaint About [Ballerina: The World of John Wick]

I don't usually look for information about movies before watching them or writing about them, but after I finish writing, I research things I'm curious about and what other people thought of them with a high probability.

While researching [Ballerina: The World of John Wick], which I saw last time, I wanted to touch on some of the impressions that I saw that were good and that made me think, "It wasn't just me."

By the way, when I'm researching impressions, I often use Rotten Tomatoes (English site), note, and Filmarks（Japanese site）. As I wrote a little about before, Filmarks is convenient because you can quickly find out which subscription service a work is streaming on when you search for the title.

The main complaint is, "Isn't there not enough ballerina element?????" Because I've been familiar with dancing since I was a child, that's why I wanted to see [Ballerina] when I saw the title this time.

I kind of expected it because there were no ballet elements in this poster at all.

I could have comforted myself by saying, "I was just expecting too much." But what I couldn't forgive the most was that they didn't draw the actress, Ana de Armas, who is so cute, more cutely and beautifully.

The Bond girl in [No Time to Die] was the strongest and cutest.

Even in [Blade Runner 2049]... I couldn't take my eyes off her.

The contents were what they were, but Marilyn Monroe in [Blonde] was also the cutest.

But... they didn't bring out her charm to the fullest. However, I hit on information that made me understand this feeling. This was also one of the YouTube channels that supported me during the pandemic, and there was a person who introduced movies in thick Kansai dialect. His updates had stopped for a while, but when I opened YouTube for the first time in a long time, he was updating with [Ballerina].

I had already finished writing the article, so I immediately listened to it, and he touched on "gun promotion." Everything made sense. If they were focusing on guns, I could understand the composition of the video from beginning to end.

I felt "Ah, relieved," but... I still thought that they could have done something about the makeup and hairstyle, and I was relieved to research that it wasn't just me who thought that. The almost bare-faced Ana de Armas in the making of [Ballerina] is much cuter, so if you're interested, please check it out, haha.

Taking cute pictures of cute girls... I didn't realize it when I was writing this article ↑, but I realized that it was quite amazing in this work.

Movie Theater Hot Coffee

I don't usually write negative things, but (bitter smile). Speaking of complaints... Why is the hot coffee at major movie theaters so bad? I love coffee so much that I hand-drip my own coffee every morning. I didn't think I was that picky about which beans I liked, but... I've stopped buying coffee at major movie theaters lately because it's often "not good."

However, I want to report that the coffee at the movie theater yesterday was very delicious. I was passing through Umeda and thought, "I want to see a movie," and I was researching, and I wanted to see the impressions of [Martinez] on note, but I liked the poster so much that I couldn't open the article because I didn't want to get pre-information.

When I looked it up, it was only showing at mini-theaters, so it was only showing at Kyoto Karasuma Oike or Theater Umeda, and Theater Umeda was just right to watch after lunch. However, I didn't expect much because I had memories of watching a movie that wasn't very good in the past, and it was quite a walk from the station in the scorching heat.

Then... what do you know? It had been significantly renovated since I came a few years ago. I thought that I could expect something, and I ordered a hot coffee because it was after lunch. I thought, "By the way, the name has changed from Cine Libre Umeda to Theater Umeda," and I sat down at the counter seat and wrote the beginning of this article. After a while, I sipped the hot coffee I had ordered, and it was delicious. It may have been because I drank it imagining that coffee from major movie theaters, but it was delicious even when it cooled down a little during the movie.

It was luxurious, reminding me of the lobby of the super-luxury movie theater [109 Premium Cinema] in Shinjuku.

Furthermore, there were outlets installed at the counter seats, and the sofa seats were the best space to relax in. It's a mini-theater that I don't usually go to, but if I can enjoy the movie time with that space and delicious coffee... I would want to go even if I had to walk a little. This article does not promote specific stores. Haha.

The End