The pressure of getting married.
We follow a woman in her late 20s who isn’t interested in getting married or having a relationship with a man. But her mother pushes her and is trying to find a husband for her daughter. Will the daughter cave in, or will she stand tall as a tree and not budge?
I didn’t think I would like this movie. Still, it’s an interesting story about social pressure and not wanting to stand out when you’re not interested in getting married or having a relationship with the opposite sex in Japan. It’s not easy being a woman around 30 in such a traditional country.
So we follow the protagonist, who is sincere when she tells people how she feels. She meets men and women, and they talk and get to know each other better—especially when the protagonist meets an old classmate whom she finds interesting and connects with.
There are some countries where you stick out like a sore thumb if you’re a woman and haven’t popped out a baby or found yourself a husband. Japan is one of those countries, so I’m pretty familiar with how this society works regarding Japanese women and how they’re looked down on if they’re single and childless, or if they have a child but no husband. So it’s no wonder that the birth rate in Japan has dropped to the bottom—except I think South Korea is in the sewer when it comes to birth rates. But if you know how women are treated in Japan, it’s no wonder they’re not interested in finding a man and starting a family. To hell with all men!
The acting is excellent, and you should recognize Tôko Miura, who played the grumpy driver in that overrated movie that won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, Drive My Car. I hated that movie, but at least I like Tôko Miura, and she’s excellent in I Am What I Am.
As usual, I have to end by saying that I Am What I Am isn’t a movie for everybody. I feel it’s a film for movie nerds like me who have learned a lot about Japanese society and how it works. It’s also a movie for women—they don’t need to be Japanese—if they connect with the character and how the protagonist feels about having a relationship and trying to stand up for herself, refusing to follow the traditional path of starting a family and feeling trapped by what, especially, your mother expects from you. That’s something women in particular should empathize with. But beware—this is your typical slow-paced Japanese movie that burns slowly, and that’s not to everyone’s taste.