RKS 2025 Film: “Super Happy Forever”: Perhaps Instead “Eternally Miserable”

In “Super Happy Forever”, a Japanese feature film, director Kohei Igarashi plays with your mind right off the bat with the film’s name. A cultish misnomer. A fantasy. The film is more a dive into unhappiness derived from wishful thinking. And temporally Igarashi plays with you but not me as I have the film down perfectly as you are about to read and realize me for the savvy critic I am. Are you gong to fall for that five-year gap stuff and her death?

The film starts, where it might well have ended if Igarashi wasn’t throwing red caps at your noggin. The quasi-schizophrenic Sano (Hiroshi Sano) and his friend Miyata (Yoshinori Yamamoto) are vacationing on the beautiful Izu Peninsula at a beachside resort hotel. In the hotel lobby they encounter frustrated perpetually giggly photographer Nagi (Nairu Yamamoto). Sano and Nagi make eye contact watching a hotel guest nodding off with her cell phone just about to hit the ground when she awakes grabbing it before it hits the floor. They introduce each other on a pleasure cruise off the coast, have lunch with Miyata and the three go clubbing.

Before entering the club Sano purchases a ratty red cap for Nagi a central part of the film.

After clubbing Nagi and Sano stop for instant noodles they consume on the sidewalk and it is clear they may have a deepening affinity for each other. Returning to the hotel on the same floor will either make a move toward further physical intimacy? Nope, agreeing instead to meet at 8:00 a.m. for breakfast. The breakfast never occurs and it is not entirely clear (love the mystery here) why except for an admission by Sano he feared Nagi no longer wanted him. No furtherance of a relationship.

Despondent Sano, once jolly, rapidly transforms into a moody regretful if not belligerent character searching for the symbol of his unrequited relationship with Nagi, the red cap. The relationship is dead and failing to recognize that Sano stubbornly searches for the red cap full of regret and dashed expectations. Nagi is little more than a legendary ghost on the pier. A wish of Sano escalated in his mind to mythical proportions. The five-year period is but a figment of his imagination increasing, at least logically, his misery.

If you are roaring with laughter at my interpretation smarty pants viewers answer me this question; Why would Sano wear the same t-shirt for 5 years? Gotcha!

And the Vietnamese chamber maid wearing the red cap. Sorry Sano…man were you deceived!

Of course, I am totally wrong but I had so much fun with the film. Hiroshi Sano plays a convincingly schizophrenic role as an enamoured chicken little then a miserable son of a bitch. The epitome of Super Miserable Most of The Time.

“Fun” is a weak word to be avoided by a literate film critic but I haven’t had as much fun with this film as I have had in a long time!

Catch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn_3H9K7fsY

In Canada opens in Montreal 13June2025.

RKS 2025 Film Rating 91/100.

RKS Literature: The American Evangelist Mr. Ryder Spreads More Than Just the Good Word in Jamaica


“So it was no one’s surprise that gossip about the Ryders followed close behind: in shops, under the shade of trees, on street corners, at the food tables, the busybodies discussed when they saw Mr Ryder where Mr Ryder should not have been. When a pretty woman produced a fair skin baby with a completely bald head, the men who sat with their dominoes sucked their teeth and whispered that Mr Ryder was spreading more than just his love of learning.”

Andrea Ryder, “Small Island”, 2004.

RKS Literature: The Twitching and Frothing Evangelists (Andrea Levy)

“The Ryders were evangelists and Mr Phillip had no time for evangelists.  He did not like the way that people moved by the spirit of the Lord threw themselves to the ground shaking and frothing at the mouth like beasts. He could not understand that, as the service came to a close, those same people could be seen politely shaking the preacher’s hand as they left the church. He said, “The spirit of the Lord cannot come and go in people so quickly.”

Andrea Levy, “Small Island”, 2004.

RKS Literature: “Little Miss High-class from Jamaica Arrives in 1948 London” (Andrea Levy)

“Man, this woman is a barb under my skin-she irritate me so I lose my temper. I tell her. “Yes, and you know what else, little Miss Stick-up-your-nose-air, you will have to wash your plate, your vegetable and your backside in that basin too. This room is where you will sleep, eat, cook, dress and write your mummy to tell her the Mother Country is so fine. And, little Miss High-class, one thing about England you don’t know yet because you just come off a boat. You are lucky.”

Andrea Levy, “Small Island”, 2004.

RKS Health: The Great Hernia Adventure: A Victim of Sexism and The Squat They Never Taught You in Gym Class

Off to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, specifically to the Family Practice Clinic which I have been a patient of for a decade or so. It is part of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and its physicians are instructors at that Faculty of Medicine. Sunnybrook is a teaching hospital for residents wishing to practice medicine in a specialized area. You may be seen by a resident but under the supervision of the staff physician usually after the resident comes to his/her diagnosis/recommendation.

As Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You’ll never know what you’ll get.” With a resident you never know who you’ll get and, in this case, a young lady! Blush. Blush. Please disrobe and put on this gown! OH NO. She departs and leaves me in a state of panic. Too late to escape. She returns and, in a fluster, (me not her) asks me to squat up and down feeling the little bugger hernia pop out and bulge. That was quick but seemed close to a full Trump presidential term!

The staff physician arrives, obtains a briefing from the resident and concurs it is time for an ultrasound.

The official beginning of the Great Hernia Adventure!

How many times has medicine breached your “privacy” and its related anatomy with that epithet, “Don’t worry we have seen it all.” I would respond, “Well you may have seen it all but I and my private anatomy aren’t accustomed to be seen by all!”  I might venture to say in a strange way as a man I am a historical victim of sexism in the medical field.

RKS Health: The Great Hernia Adventure

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

The Great Hernia Adventure begins prior to your realization of it a common feature of maladies, afflictions and plagues. You only know when you are stricken.

Out of the shower in May 2023. Towelling off. You don’t always look “down there” but even when you do are you are paying any degree of attention. But there it was on the left groin. A noticeable bulge. Just my imagination? Prod and push and it is a lump! Is this the beginning of my demise?

My hunch after consulting Dr. Google was confirmed in my non-medical mind. I had a 97 percent in high school biology but a far cry from graduating medical school.

The next step in The Great Hernia Adventure was obtaining a medical confirmation of my hunch.

RKS 2025 CANADIAN Documentary: “The Salmon’s Call”

Joy Haskell’s feature documentary “The Salmon’s Call” might well have been titled “Last Call for Pacific Salmon” due to the decline of wild Pacific salmon in the riverways of the Canadian province of British Columbia.

Haskell’s closing words of the documentary are, “Salmon don’t have a voice. We are their voice.”

Indigenous people of British Columbia dependent on salmon for sustenance, culture, identity and survival speak to the viewer about the importance of salmon in their society.

Whereas the urban consumer of salmon, most often farm raised in Canada or Norway, views salmon as an edible article of consumption Indigenous populations in the wild Pacific salmon territories of British Columbia understand salmon as a “two-way street” that extends beyond consumption to deep respect and gratitude for the role salmon have played in their economy and culture for generations. Salmon are but a component of the ecosystem. Diminishing and degrading salmon equates with a corresponding destruction of an ecosystem and a way of life.

Haskell remains almost entirely in the background of her documentary letting members of the salmon dependent territories speak about the societal role of salmon both past and present avoiding polemics giving the documentary a lean authentic voice which should be listened to as the voice of wild Pacific salmon.

The viewer will hopefully understand the clear message of elders, artists, poets, salmon activists, the urban Indigenous, educators, fisherman and salmon smokers is one close to despair of the diminishment of the wild Pacific salmon population by wildfires, pollution and a parasitical infestation by commercial fish farms originally slated by closure in 2025 by the Canadian government but then extended to 2029 to “allow for the responsible, realistic and achievable transition”. This promised closure may be four years too late.

You may watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXXBgLoj6hY

“The Salmon’s Call” will debut on British Columbia’s viewer supported public educational broadcaster “Knowledge Network” in celebration of Indigenous People’s History Month in Canada. The documentary will be broadcast on the network on 24June2025 at 21:00 and will be available online to Canadian viewers through Knowledge Network’s services and apps.

RKS 2025 Canadian Documentary Film Rating 86/100.

RKS 2025 Canadian Wine: A Red Assemblage from Ferox Estate Winery in Niagara, Ontario

A blend of Zweigelt (53%), Merlot (18%), Syrah (15%), Malbec (8%) and Cabernet Franc (6%) from 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. Each component was aged in neutral French oak barriques (225L) for a minimum of 2 years before élevage, assemblage, filtration and bottling.

Aroma: Black cherry, blackberry, blueberry and cassis all rather dense and heady. Tiny bit of smoke.

Palate: Gentle tannins. Huge mouthfeel. Abrupt sour cherry finish. Smidge of blackberry. A case of recalcitrant fruit.

Personality: I may be cheap but not terribly cheerful. And all these different grapes perhaps had you yearning for more innovative depth?

Food Pairing: The winery has several intriguing suggestions but I think the pulled pork with hickory smoked salt wets my whistle.

Cellarbility: Drink before the snow hits Ontario.

Price: $17.00 CDN.

RKS 2025 Canadian Wine Rating: 83/100. Wine Align Community Score 87.

(Vantage Red, Non-Vintage, Ferox Estate Winery Inc., VQA Ontario, 750 mL, 12.5%).

RKS 2025 Canadian Film: “Angela’s Shadow”: A Disgusting, Shameful and Disgraceful Chapter in Canadian History….and the Pages Continue Turning

Canadians have been hearing stories about residential schools akin to prisons for Indigenous children managed by various religious orders and blessed by the Canadian government. Residential schools no longer exist but the trauma inflicted by them on survivors and the Indigenous community continues.

You might wish to summon up a plenitude of adjectives to describe the evils of residential schools or reduce the word count and label these schools as a component of genocide.

Angela (Sera-Lys McArthur) is asked by her former nanny Mary (Renae Morriseau) to visit her in KiiWeeTin, a Cree community, in Northern Canada before Angela gives birth. Henry (Matthew Kevin Anderson), her physician husband, accompanies her to write about how “those half breeds live”.

This is 1939 Canada with residential schools in full swing kidnapping Indigenous children and imprisoning them to “civilize” them by forcefully eradicating their culture. A time when Indigenous ceremonies were illegal.

The relationship between Mary and Angela is initially friendly but attempts to expose Angela to Cree culture are met with Angela’s resistance as if the Canadian government considers cultural expressions as criminal Angela states, they must be bad. Henry, awkward and ill at ease, appears taken with the sweat lodge and hunting.

Both Henry and Angela experience visions accompanied by haunting noises. A bombshell is dropped (although in my view highly predictable) about Angela’s family history causing her to rethink the trajectory of her life. Whilst Angela becomes contemplative Henry moves closer to madness and violence developing a compulsion to wash imaginary dirt from his hands as hauntings intensify. Lady Macbeth OCD, a sign of guilt.

The storyline is compelling delivering its message in a calm but razor-sharp manner without excessive anger however well deserved that may be considering the brutal attempts to eliminate Indigenous culture.

A unique personal portrayal of the attack on Canadian Indigenous culture with some of its flimsy rationale fleshed out in the film. The importance of Indigenous spirituality is key to the film as well as the Cree resistance to Catholicism.

The acting is spot on but the writing tends to spawn too many overdramatic moments undercutting the skills of the cast.

A true Canadian feel production redolent with earnestness despite some of its faults. An excellent primer for the shameful legacy of residential schools.

You can watch the trailer here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4ukjIjAfUE

A Canadian theatrical run commences 20June2025 in Vancouver with more dates and locations to be announced.

Directed and co-written by award winning Cree filmmaker Dr. Jules Arita Koostachin. Co-written by Steve Neufeld.

RKS 2025 Canadian Film Rating 76/100.

RKS 2025 Film: “A Hardworking Robber”: Shining Greek Satire

Satire runs heavily through Greek cinema and it shines in a short film from 2013 “A Hardworking Robber” directed and written by Michael Felanis.

Makis, owner of an Athenian jewelry and gift store is slothful, lazy and entirely ignorant about customer service and selling his wares. He spends his time drinking coffee, smoking, playing with his worry beads and backgammon, ignoring customers and throwing paper waste balls on the floor. Dust balls proliferate throughout.

Then the stick up but the robber, Apostilis, is dismayed as only 5 Euros and some coins are in the till! The credit default of Greece?

Apostilis ties up Makis in the basement and magic happens spiced with a bit of slapstick courtesy of some slovenly and fumbling policemen one of whom is Makis’ brother. The old boy’s connection in Greek society?

Earlier, Makis had asked a customer to run to a corner kiosk and get some change and when he received some guff from the customer for ordering him to fetch change he blames Greece’s economic difficulties on “people like him”.

“A Hardworking Robber” is a delightful lampoon straight to heart of Greece’s “people like him” old order attitudes and behaviors and the consumerism helping build a mountain of insurmountable debt.

RKS 2025 Film Rating 86/100.