Megane (Glasses)

February 10, 2008 Naoko Ogigami loves to ship her marginal characters to world's end outposts to watch the sparks fly when they interact with the staid local community. From the wintry climes of Helsinki, where her most recent film, "Kamome Diner," is set, Ogigami maroons her compact cast of four-eyed eccentrics to an unnamed, un-exotic Japanese seaside resort to shoot "Megane" and comes up with a mildly magical beach bum's guide to Zen vacationing. Surfing on the modest but unexpected success of "Diner," "Megane" remixes the recipe of the former with a breezier and more unforced rhythm and reunites actresses Satomi Kobayashi with Masako Motai for an alternative type of female friendship.

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