INDEX
What Lies Beyond Their Exhaled Breath
The beauty of this film lies in its empathy with the unspoken words of the characters. For example, the ice mound created by Takuya’s feet, which stayed in place as he was mesmerized by Sakura’s smoothly rotating figure skates. Or the breath Takuya exhales.
The characters imbue their breaths with various emotions. One day, during a science experiment, Takuya stares intently at a round-bottom flask heated by an alcohol lamp, watching the temperature rise and the surface turn faintly white, while listening to the science teacher’s question, “Why does our breath turn white in winter?”
This single scene allows the audience to imagine the warmth of a small flame in a cold classroom in a snow-covered town. In a later scene, Igarashi, leaning against Arakawa on the balcony while he smokes, dramatically exhales and asks to share the cigarette he’s smoking. In another scene, Takuya stands alone at the skating rink, gently blowing on a transparent wall with a few polka dots.
‘My Sunshine’ depicts several love stories over a brief period, beginning with the first snowfall and ending with the melting of the snow. The film captures the happiness of being together and the bittersweetness of thinking of someone alone, condensed into scenes where breath turns white in the season of snow.
