4 May 2016

Hana and Alice (Japan, 2004) & The Case of Hana and Alice (2015)



Upon entering high school, two best friends named Hana and Alice notice a boy a year older them while waiting for the train, and they both develop a pretty strong crush on him. One day while secretly following him home, Hana witnesses the boy walk right into a wall and pass out. When he wakes up, she lies and convinces him that he must have amnesia, because he doesn't remember the fact that she was his girlfriend. After this, hilarity ensues as the two girls attempt to run with the lie. Of course, complications soon arise.

Hana and Alice is directed by the wildly talented Shunji Iwai, who's given us fantastic films such as Love Letter (1995), April Story (1997 and All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001). With Hana and Alice, he perfectly captures the big and small events happening in Japanese school culture, and puts two teenage schoolgirls in the middle of love dramas and murder mysteries. In 2015 it was followed up by an animated prequel which had a bit more engaging story and an animation style which looked a little unusual. Two slice-of-life kind of films with two likeable main characters to befriend. 


Genre: Drama

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