12-year-old Koichi, who has been separated from his brother Ryunosuke due to his parents' divorce, begins to believe that the new bullet train service will create a miracle when the first trains pass each other at top speed.
A small film with humble ambitions, I Wish is a gentle piece that children may find dull, but tearful adults will recognize that Koreeda captures the essence of childhood dreams.
We all spend so much time yearning for films as good as this, and to this reviewer at least, the latest great work from Hirokazu Koreeda is pure wish-fulfilment.
Lovely but languid.
Forget all those phoney Oscar-bait films – this complex, delicate drama about two young boys living through their parents' split is the real deal, and deeply satisfying.
As a fable about childhood and happiness, it’s a little too ready to embrace soaraway optimism – undeniably beguiling, but more manufactured-feeling than Kore-eda’s top-drawer work.
Too long and leisurely I Wish is an engaging salute to childhood innocence and the hopes and dreams of a younger generation.
Delightful isn’t the word. Is hugging a cinema screen illegal nowadays?
A feelgood family movie.
The kids are great, but the film is on a slow and meandering track.
Interview: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Eden Court Theatre, Inverness from Friday March 1, 2013, until Thursday March 7, 2013. More info: www.eden-court.co.uk
Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee on Thursday March 7, 2013. More info: www.dca.org.uk
Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow from Monday March 11, 2013, until Wednesday March 13, 2013. More info: http://www.glasgowfilm.org/theatre/
Edinburgh Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Friday March 29, 2013, until Tuesday April 2, 2013. More info: www.filmhousecinema.com