Movie 'The Two Worlds I Live In' Impressions & Review (Contains Spoilers)

*This article contains affiliate links, but the content reflects my honest impressions as a viewer. I hope you enjoy reading it.

*This article is a revised and updated version of a post previously published on another blog.

Today, I'm talking about the movie 'The Two Worlds I Live In'.

Although there are fewer theaters showing it now... I think it was a very valuable film. I hope it becomes available for streaming soon.

*Please note that this article contains spoilers.

Introduction and Synopsis of 'The Two Worlds I Live In'

Overview

• Title: 'The Two Worlds I Live In'

• Director: Mipo O

• Screenplay: Takehiko Minato

• Production Year: 2024

• Original Work: Dai Igarashi, '30 Things I Thought About While Moving Between the Hearing World and the Non-Hearing World as a Child Born to Deaf Parents'

*The original work has been retitled to 'The Two Worlds I Live In' and is now available from Gentosha Bunko.

(Setting aside the director for a moment,) the screenplay is by Takehiko Minato. He is a reliable and trusted screenwriter in many circles. Looking at the titles he has written, it makes sense: 'Miyamoto', 'MOTHER', 'Tonbi', 'Egoist', etc. I have only seen 'MOTHER', but I feel he has a remarkable ability to shed light on the parts of this world that haven't been illuminated yet.

Synopsis

Children of hearing parents who are deaf or hard of hearing are called CODA (Children of Deaf Adults). According to a 2023 survey by experts, it is estimated that there are approximately 22,000 CODA children in Japan. (Reference: Do you know about CODA? Children with 'deaf' parents | NHK | WEB Feature )

'The Two Worlds I Live In' Impressions & Review

This film begins with "silence". It makes you realize that the "normal" for deaf people is different from my own "normal."

"CODA" / A work that embraces minorities

This film features many characters who belong to minorities—people like CODAs and the deaf, whom we rarely have the chance to meet (or might not even realize we have met). I felt it was a delicate film in many ways: in how it portrays these people as they are, how it embraces them, and how it cleverly conveys the reality of these minority groups to the majority.

As for overseas works depicting the minority known as "CODA," there is the 2014 French film "La Famille Bélier" and its 2021 remake, "CODA." I watched "CODA" as well, and I think it is one of the works that seriously engages with deaf people and CODAs, including the fact that "deaf roles are played by deaf actors".

In this film, "The Two Worlds I Live In," not only are deaf roles played by deaf actors, but deaf and CODA individuals were involved in the production as directors, supervisors, and interpreters, making it likely the first film of its kind in Japan. It doesn't feel like sign language is just a prop for the story; it conveys the sense that people who use sign language daily are speaking it naturally, just as we Japanese speakers speak Japanese. (Reference:
Deaf roles played by deaf actors, sign language direction, and CODA supervision realized: The reality captured by "The Two Worlds I Live In" | HuffPost )

The idea that deaf roles should be played by deaf actors seems obvious, yet it is still not the reality. Just as it feels strange to see a Chinese actor speaking Japanese in an American film, I hear that for deaf people, it feels very strange to see a hearing person playing a deaf role. It makes sense, but until it's pointed out, you don't really notice it, do you? Maybe it's like an actor from the Kanto region being forced to speak in a Kansai dialect. Regarding minorities, I wonder if the trend should move toward having members of the LGBTQ community play those roles as well...

Changing the subject, the reason I went to see this movie in the first place was because I heard director Miho O talking about it on the NHK morning information program "Asa-Ichi."

The director herself is a minority as a Zainichi Korean, and her name is pronounced O Mipo. I don't know much about film directors, so I didn't know that at all, but she started from a place of being "completely ignorant" about the minority group known as CODAs, despite being a minority herself. Moreover, this was her first full-length feature film since giving birth, and being a "director while raising a child" is also a minority existence in the industry.

I studied sign language and CODAs a little bit in college, so I was somewhat aware of their existence. That's exactly why I decided (with a mysterious sense of superiority) that if a director like this was making the film, it would be fine, and I had to go see it! I think it is a wonderful work that embraces the subject of CODAs, as well as people in various minority positions beyond just CODAs.

The universal love between parent and child

And what this film depicts is also "the universal love between parent and child". The various problems that arise because someone is "deaf" or "a CODA" are, in a way, on the surface of human emotional nuances—or rather, they are just one step before the nuances of the human heart, factors that move the human heart, but not the "heart" itself. That is precisely why the emotional patterns of parents and children that move when facing various problems caused by various reasons were so heart-wrenching.

By the way, I went to see this movie with my parents, and my mother in particular was crying her eyes out. It made me realize that mothers, having spent so much time with their children, have so many different thoughts and feelings.

A scene that will likely remain in the memory of most people who watched this film is the one where the protagonist vents his emotions to his mother. It's the scene where the protagonist, Dai, who failed his high school entrance exam, screams while signing, "I didn't want to be born into a family like this." I think it's a line that anyone, no matter what kind of family they were born into, has probably thought at least once, and that's why it was such a heart-wrenching scene, whether you put yourself in the protagonist's shoes or the mother's.

But a few years later, Mom has forgotten all about it. When he says "I'm sorry" to his mother with all his heart, she just smiles and says, "Huh? What for?" Has she forgotten...? Maybe she hasn't, but she loves Dai so much that even such painful memories of being told "I didn't want to be born into a family like this" have faded away. Or perhaps, compared to her love for Dai, that kind of thing is nothing. I'm tearing up just writing this now.

And then, the scene where his mother says "Thank you" to Dai. She says, "There were so many people, but you spoke to me in sign language, and I was so happy," with such a joyful smile. Seriously, I'm crying again. The person being told that has so many thoughts racing through their mind. Not inviting them to class observation because they were embarrassed, being harsh to their parents, leaving their deaf parents to go to Tokyo, not coming home very often... Really, it makes you cry.

Thinking about the theme of universal parent-child love, it of course includes his interactions with his father. The trust in Dai that only men can have (?), the way he pushes him to go to Tokyo, and the story about how he eloped with Mom. The many words spun from the perspective of a same-sex parent made me realize that they surely formed the foundation of Dai's kindness, generosity, and strength.

Also, this is completely unrelated, but the back-and-forth about whether his father looks like a cool actor (Tomokazu Miura) or not was cute. I wondered if those trivial interactions in other scenes (especially the chatting scenes) also have the effect of conveying that, regardless of whether one is deaf or hearing, it's all "normal."

Speaking of parents and children, I would also like to touch on the protagonist Dai's mother and her parents. Perhaps due to their generation or the fact that they live in the countryside, there is the presence of parents who are ignorant about "deafness" and don't even try to hide it. And surely, with absolutely no malice... Dai's grandfather laughing and saying, "I thought he'd be cured if I sent him to a normal high school, but he didn't get cured!" and Dai's grandmother being exasperated by that. When Dai was younger, there was the grandfather who would get violent and the grandmother who relied on religion. The helplessness they feel deep in their hearts that they cannot express is so painful. I think it was portrayed well. Even so, of course, I felt their love in many places. If Dai's parents are ideal parents, then Dai's mother's parents are true-to-life parents, I suppose. That was also good.

A film that gives you the courage to carve out your own path

I don't know... It is, of course, a film about what the world of the deaf and the hearing, where a "CODA" lives, is like, but throughout the whole story, it is surely a coming-of-age tale for the protagonist. Starting from childhood, the hardships of growing up as a CODA in the countryside, working at a pachinko parlor in Tokyo, or at a small publishing house, becoming independent, the protagonist has gone through so many things. The train he takes to "return" to Tokyo from his hometown of Miyagi goes through a tunnel and leaps out into a beautiful landscape. And so begins, "The Two Worlds I Live In."

Oh my god, was that perfect or what?

A beautiful world visible far off in the distance from a pitch-black tunnel. It keeps getting closer, and before you know it, you are already in a bright world overflowing with the vivid green of fresh leaves. It is like realizing the various emotions you have been carrying, having them suddenly sorted out by some trigger, and because of that, a path to a new world is opened up. Somehow, as I write this now, I am thinking about it all over again.

A cast full of talented actors

Led by lead actor Ryo Yoshizawa and deaf actors Akiko Oshidari (I learned the surname is pronounced 'Oshidari') and Akito Imai, the cast includes heavy hitters like Yusuke Santamaria, Setsuko Karasuma, and Denden. I personally did not know Setsuko Karasuma or Denden at all, but according to my parents, they are very famous. Denden, for instance, is apparently a very kind grandfather in real life, which is exactly why he was able to pull off that performance.

And, a shocking fact I discovered while researching for this article... Akiko Oshidari is actually 54 years old... Wait, what?? She is 54 playing a role in her 20s...?? By the way, Akito Imai is 33, making them a married couple with a staggering 21-year age gap.

Well, Ryo Yoshizawa played his character from middle school onwards, which was also amazing. I guess that is just how actors are... but still, it is truly incredible. I was surprised. Anyway, with that said, I am sure there are quite a few people who watched this simply because Ryo Yoshizawa is the lead. For those who came to see it because of him, being able to learn about this world through such an authentic film... I thought it was a movie with immense social value as well.

Summary of my review for 'The Two Worlds I Live In'

So, with that said.

• Those interested in sign language or CODA

• Those who want to feel a form of 'love' that is not romantic

• Those who are struggling in difficult circumstances but are trying their best

If you would like, please give it a watch :)

Movies recommended for you if you 'got hooked' on 'The Two Worlds I Live In'

CODA

La Famille Bélier

Any Day Now

Many other recommended works as well!