Following the release of “Star Wars” in Japan, film fan and aspiring director Hiroshi (Yu Uemura) decides to recreate the space epic with his friend Yoshio (Noa Fukuzawa). As the school cultural festival approaches the two propose a film as their class project. With help from fellow students, including Hiroshi’s crush Natsumi (Akari Takaishi), and a local camera shop clerk (Yusuke Sato), they set out to make a unique science-fiction film. “Single8” follows their process, from handcrafting special effects, compositing, editing, and attempting to craft a meaningful narrative.
Based on director Kazuya Konaka’s own experiences in the 1970’s, “Single 8” is a charming comedic drama about a group of teenagers with a small budget but a big dream. The cast do a superb job of capturing the youthful exuberance and ambition of the youngsters, alongside their social awkwardness. There is an understated romance between Hiroshi and Natsumi, but for the most part the film’s focus is on the thrill of creating an amateur film. Similar in that regard to “One Cut of the Dead” (2017) or “It’s a Summer Film” (2021), in the latter half of “Single8” we actually see Hiroshi’s production in its entirety. It’s an interesting decision, and rather unusual as it almost breaks the flow of the main narrative, not even cutting away to show the reactions of Hiroshi’s classmates to their work. However, it does provide a rush of nostalgia for old science-fiction films with their shaky special effects and creative direction.
All in all, “Single 8” is a fun, lighthearted look at amateur film-making, with a lot of insight into film-making, such as drawing on the 8mm film to create special effects, reversing the footage, sound dubbing and editing. The cameraderie between Hiroshi, Yoshio and the others engaged in making the film is enjoyable, though there is little tension throughout and the romance element is strikingly realistic (in that it is largely a one-sided affair without resolution). At the end of the film the two friends ask one another what their own character development has been through the journey of making this science-fiction specatular. It proves a difficult question for the audience to answer as very little changes for them. The film feels very much like a personal project recreating the director’s youth that perhaps cleaves too closely too reality, lacking more dramatic elements. That being said it will appeal to those interested in the art of film-making and film history with its nostalgic look at how many aspiring directors started out.
