Naoko Ogigami's Megane (Glasses) is a droll and touching story about Taeko (Mikako Ichikawa), a Tokyo woman dressed in black and white on a sparsely populated island where everybody is indeed wearing glasses. With understated humor, the meticulously framed film observes how Taeko learns to adapt to an almost surreal set of rules that govern the otherwise empty inn where she is staying.
Every day begins with a curious form of exercise on the beach. The proprietor and a strange old woman keep suggesting she should be "twilighting," without ever explaining what "twilighting" is. Days are taken up with knitting and the consumption of food, which is lovingly shot and detailed: fish, eggs, barbecue, slow-cooking beans, shaved ice, pickled plums, lobster, beer.
Without apparent conflict and traditional drama, Megane is nonetheless full of pleasures, laughs, sensory delights, and an unexpected profundity that sneaks up on you.
