Review of Being Two Isn't Easy

BEING TWO ISN'T EASY / I AM TWO YEARS OLD (WATASHI WA NISAI). Viewed on Streaming. Director Kon Ichikawa's (also credited as co-Producer) apparent objective (at least initially) is to present parallel universes: one inhabited by a baby starting at birth; and another by the kid's first-time parents and their circle of friends and relatives. The infant's point of view (POV) is mostly conveyed by an adult voice-over actor, and seems to indicate that the child has learned enough (perhaps in a former life?) to skip grade school and enroll directly in Junior High (given his rate of growth in the film, that may be pretty darn soon)! The scenario (credited to Ichikawa' wife) probably looked pretty cool on paper, but turned out to be not so much on film. After about the first reel (10 minutes or so), the baby's POV (in audio and video scenes) mostly disappears, as the Director drifts away from an interesting thematic duality and into the banality of talk about how to raise and care for a baby. And there sure is lots of talk most of which is trivial (the stack of cue cards must have been huge (even for dubbing sessions) and/or the two leading actors had mega photographic memories (or acting was mostly improvisational!)). Ichikawa tries to break up the talkathon monotony by injecting an action shot here and there (a cartoon, some kid falling from a balcony and being caught by a mail carrier, close to death suffocation in a plastic bag, a racing motorcycle, etc.). Leading and supporting actors turn in very good performances. The toddler who is supposed to reach the age of two by film's end is obviously being played by a 3-5 year old in later scenes (it also looks suspiciously like several children are playing the same role). Subtitles struggle with the copious dialog and turn out to be close enough (but often have to resort to multiple lines of text!). The unimaginative score is mostly kept in the background (thankfully!). Skip this feather-weight shomin-geki unless suffering from an especially bad bout of insomnia! WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD. Details: streaming/print (FilmStruck) = 9/10 stars; performances = 5 stars; cinematography (narrow screen, color) = 5 stars; lighting = 5 stars; animation = 5 stars; direction = 4/5 stars; subtitles = 4/5 stars; score = 4 stars.