The film takes shape through the form of a video exchange between Hirokazu Kore-eda and Naomi Kawase. Each films the world around them and intimately reflects on their individual struggles with making films. Kore-eda self-consciously reflects on his process, “What does a camera shoot? What does a film capture? The emptiness in my life reflects in my work.” Kawase concentrates on her everyday life and candid moments with her friends, who say, “Hang in there Naomi we are all on your side,” and, “You never keep the promises you make, but I love you anyway.”
Mari is a high school teacher who is earnest and somewhat cold. Tired of her monotonous days, she discovered a secret game: wandering around Roppongi at night and seducing men.
Military doctor Kwiatkowski, serving in a barracks hospital on the Western Territories, is rewarded with a week’s leave after successfully operating on Colonel Kiziora of the UB.
Set on May 18, 1993—the day on which Denmark voted to join the European Union, just a few months after they'd voted not to do so—the film follows eight or so disparate Danes (an escaped mental patient, a newly-famous singer, a business executive, and their assorted families and cohorts) as they unwittingly alter one another's lives, for better and for worse.
Teenager, Clare Steves, is kidnapped by an old boyfriend, Eddie Spencer, who demands $250,000. The ransom is paid and Clare is released, but when the kidnapers are caught, they claim that the whole scheme was Clare's idea as a way to punish her father.
Filmmaker Ernesto Rimoch looks at the potent combination of love and ambition in this film about a couple who's so happy their daughter is marrying into a rich clan that they throw the best wedding ever, even if they can't afford it.
