7/25

Only connect... This mildly intriguing indie feature has two seemingly disparate storylines which may or may not have hidden links and parallels. The rural one centres on a tree doctor guarding the last surviving pair of starline maples against a woman who apparently wants to make a cello from their wood. The urban one, set in Sapporo, is about a would-be gumshoe hired to catch a girl who shoplifts on the 25th of each month. Having set up its characters and their problems, the film fast-forwards to the title date for some climactic revelations involving a graffiti-covered room, an undelivered cello and the pollination problems of the maple tree. Not exactly Borgesian in its metaphysical implications, but it does offer an interesting spot sample of young adult concerns in present-day Japan.