SCENE 3: THE STILLS

PAGE ONE

Our motion picture begins in New York City (or a reasonable facsimile) where Mie and Kei
are interviewd by the press about their upcoming movie.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, our intrepid (not to mention goofy) trio of directors, along with their girl Friday
kick off the first vignette, a "dorama", or simply, a soap opera.

Nurse Ratched, er, Nurse Kei tends to one of her patients, Mrs. Tanaka who asks if Kei might want
to marry his handsome son who works for a prestigious company.

On cue, in walks Mrs. Tanaka's oh, so handsome son who works for that prestigious company.
Judging from Kei 's smile, she likes him from jump street.

Later, at home, we're introduced to Kei's charming younger sister, Mie, and their beloved,
though deceased mother (a.k.a. the framed picture on the dresser)

Mie reveals to Kei that she also has a boyfriend, named Hattori who works at a local bar.
However, Kei doesn't look pleased about it. Something about his "lowly status".

Later at said bar, Mie dreams up the idea of having Kei meet him so she can see what a great guy he is.
But, that's open to debate since we've all seen this chap before!

The next day, Kei is on cloud nine thinking her hubby to be, but she's brought back down to earth
quick as the head nurse orders her back on duty to take care of an emergency.

Meanwhile, Mie waits in vain with "Hattori" for Kei, unaware that she's busy with the new patient
who just wants to go home, despite a head injury he suffered.

When Kei arrives home later, she finds an upset Mie, packing her bags to leave, angry at her sister
for missing the meeting. However, Kei explains that her duty came first.

Tempers flare, and harsh words are exchanged between the sisters, leading to Mie getting
slapped, followed by a quiet moment with lots of tears being shed.

At the bar the next day, Kei, looking for "Hattori" gets one hell of an unpleasant surprise when
Mie's boyfriend turns out to be Kei's intended husband, Tanaka. OOPS!

With the cat out of the bag, Tanaka explains that he's living a double life, not wanting his mom to
know his company went bankrupt. However, Kei isn't too happy about it.

Mie, calling from the hospital talks with Kei who's a wreck after the revelation about Tanaka/Hattori,
and all because she can't be with a man of such "lowly status".

At home that night, the sisters have a heart-to-heart chat about Tanaka/Hattori, how Mie's in
love with him, but he plans to go ahead and marry Kei anyway.

At the bar the next day, Mie and Tanaka/Hattori discuss the situation when Kei walks in with her
secret boyfriend, Mr. Sugimoto (a.k.a., the head injury patient from the other night)

As Kei explains that she's breaking up with Tanaka/Hattori in favor of her new beau, Stevie Wonder
could see that he and Mie (who's in hiding) don't believe a word Kei says.

After Kei leaves with her Sugimoto, Mie is overwhelmed with emotion from the selfless sacrifice her
sister made for her. But now Mie and Tanaka/Hattori can finally be happy together.

Kei offers Sugimoto cash for his part in her ruse, but he turns it down, saying he can't take the money since she
made that sacrifice for Mie. He adds that Kei's a good woman who will find a good man.

Kei, alone, her heart in turmoil from losing her first love somberly walks off into the sunset. And the first vignette ends.

Author's Note: After having viewed the entire movie three times to do both the review, and prepare this feature, I have to admit that this was my favorite of the three vignettes, if only because Mie and Kei played it completely straight, flexing their dramatic muscles in what was an emotionally gripping drama that really pulled me in and kept me involved. You could feel the joy, the anger, the turmoil, and the heartache the girls displayed as they were caught up in a lover's triangle, and I thought it was well done. That was why I enjoyed this vignette over the next two which were far more lighthearted. And so, let's go on to number two!