An (2015) – Review

Japan is a country which has always fascinated me. Not only because of technology, but also the culture and nature. A couple of years ago (partly inspired by seeing Lost in Translation) I decided to go on a holiday there and it still is the best one I’ve ever had and one I fondly remember. During three weeks I travelled the country and enjoyed the busy cities, the wonderful architecture of the old buildings and gardens, the beautiful landscapes and of course the great food. And because I didn’t know the language I didn’t always know what I exactly bought for lunch. One of them was a bun filled with beans, which I really didn’t like. But after seeing An I was curious to know if maybe I didn’t buy one which was made with as much passion as the ones in this film.

The an in the title of the movie is a filling made of read beans, which are carefully prepared and are then sandwiched between two small pancakes. It is much-loved and called dorayaki. Sentaro (Masatoshi Nagase) works in a very small bakery which has specialised in making it. Every day a lot of school children stop by to eat it and that’s the way he makes his living. One day an old woman stops by calle Tokue (Kirin Kiki). She asks him if he has a job for her available. Because of her age Sentaro isn’t interested and asks her to leave, but the woman keeps returning and gives him a small lunchbox. He initially throws it away, but changes his mind about it and try the contents. He is so surprised about the an contained in the box that he wants to know how she prepared it. He decides to hire her, which doesn’t only mean the bakery becomes more successful, but also the start of a friendship between Tokue and Sentaro.

 An is a wonderful small film which succeeds in showing you the love for preparing food in a beautiful way. Because the place they are working in is so small, the viewer gets an intimate feeling of getting to know these characters. You care for Tokue, who has a strong bond with the ingredients she is working with and is slowly and lovingly transferring her experience to Sentaro. Their connection keeps growing and slowly you get to know more about their history and struggles, which results in various emotional moments. Director Naomi Kawase tells this story with a lot of care giving it a sensitivity and great imagery of preparing the dorayaki, against the background of cherry blossoms. A film which not only nourishes your soul, but also makes you want to make these sweet little treats yourself. Which is exactly what I did after seeing it.