If you haven’t heard, Flavor of Youth was created by the studio that did Your Name. So, for people who’ve not watched it yet, it’s three stories taking place in one film. The location is mainly set in parts of China. The first story is regarding food, the second story is about two sisters, and lastly, a story about friendship. To make it simple, I’ll explain each story in its own right, and I’ll talk about the pros and cons.
Year: 2018
Directors: Yoshitaka Takeuchi, Haoling Li, Jiaoshou Yi Xiaoxing
Genre: Romance/Drama
Duration: 1h 15m First story: The Rice Noodles
I know everyone loves eating - some of us even wish that food won’t contain calories! But the story is about a young boy by the name of Xiao Ming. Taking place in Beijing, Xiao Ming reminisces about the days his grandma used to make food for him. It’s safe to say that through food, we can build meaningful relationships. Sometimes with food, it can take us to new places. Such as new countries, new cultures, and meeting new people. - which, in a way is related to this film. You can see through their love of food, Xiao Ming can be closer to his grandma. Through food, they’re able to build a relationship together - which I’ll give credit where credit is due - it sorts of relates to people in real life. I’m sure that our mum or dad are good cooks. Or other members of the family. When watching this, I just remember the times my family and I would all sit down and have a meal. These are the little things I always look forward to. It gives us moments to forget about life, and be part of the moment. As we get older, we all have different life paths and having a family meal together can only come once in a while. I liked the way the story is told. In that short amount of time, I can imagine if you were to give it some extra time, what other things could’ve been achieved. In the film, it took up to around 15 minutes. If I were to give it a rating, for me, it’s a solid 9.5/10
Second story: Little Fashion Show
Yi Lin, a model is staying in Shanghai with her little sister, Lulu, who’s pursuing her studies. I wasn’t a fan of the storyline. The direction was not clear in my opinion. The way it was told made it feel like it was incomplete. I tried rewatching it a few times but couldn’t get to grips with it. I just trying to figure out whether the story was about two sisters, or how Yi Lin was trying to be the model she used to be. However, on the other hand, I can see some positives with it. Having lost their parents at a young age, it’s tough. So this is where Yi Lin takes the responsibility of taking care of Lulu. I guess after watching it a few times, you can say that story teaches us about cherishing the relationships you have with your loved ones. This is relatable in real life where we have close bonds with people - whether it’s our best friend, wife, or family member, etc, we all have that person we’re close to. I had to say it, but due to its storyline not having a clear vision, I would have to give it a 4/10.
Third Story: Love in Shanghai
Li Mo and Xiao Yu are school friends and now are adults. Li Mo discovers a cassette tape early on, and it’s like a love story waiting to happen. The cassette was used because Xiao Yu got injured and she needed to keep up with her class. It’s quite interesting how they use cassette players to communicate with each other. By becoming friends, they developed a relationship with each other in the future. They had moments where Xiao Yu got selected to this school out of town and Li Mo wanted to be with his friend. It shows the bond they had, they don’t want to leave each other. I didn’t talk about this element in the other stories, but I liked the cinematography element - I would say in my opinion, this segment had some shots which make it gel well with the film and the storyline. Through friendship, you never know what can happen in the future. I would have said that the story could’ve been better, but I enjoyed it. I would give it a rating of 7/10.
Final Words:
Should you watch it? Well, for me, it's not the best or the worst. I would say the visuals in the films are nice to look at. For me, the first story is the one I enjoyed. Just the connection and how you're able to relate to it made me enjoy it. Everyone likes food, and food connects people. The second storyline was not that clear but had some savings graces. The last storyline was decent. The cinematography and the idea is there, but with a few more touch-ups, the story will be better. I just had high hopes for the film because of the creators who helped with Your Name.
Rating: 5/10
The first story in my opinion was the best ah