THE ISLAND CLOSEST TO HEAVEN

Based on Katsura Morimura’s 1966 best-selling travelogue, Obayashi’s paradise-laden coming-of-age tale is an island retreat to the white sands of New Caledonia. Fulfilling her late father’s (YMO’s Yukihiro Takahashi) dream to take her to “the island closest to heaven,” bookish teen Mari (Tomoyo Harada) ventures solo to the archipelago’s indigo waters in search of this mythic locale. Taking in the island’s sites, Mari journeys off the beaten path, befriending a host of friendly locals in the process, from islander Taro (Ryoichi Takayanagi) to footloose tour guide Yuichi. One of Obayashi’s breeziest features, filled with a sense of old school Hollywood romanticism, THE ISLAND CLOSEST TO HEAVEN forms an affecting portrait of a young girl’s journey to self-discovery and her own piece of heaven deep within.