Bit to Do

Childhood is full of little superstitions. It's easy to believe in magic when you're young – the world is a place full of wonders you can't yet comprehend, and it is all incredibly fantastical. (In fact, one could posit that the same wonder exists as adults, and that childhood explanations based on “magic” are replaced by religion – but that's a whole other discussion.) Even as adults, we cling to silly childhood omens of luck out of a sense of nostalgia – making a wish when blowing out birthday candles, or blowing the white fuzz off of a blossoming dandelion, or blowing a stray eyelash off one's thumb. (You notice an interesting them of blowing things = wish fulfillment; another curiosity fit for another day.)

Dreams of wish fulfillment are international, and one such story is told in the Japanese film I Wish

(

奇跡

, or

Kiseki)

, which opens today at Village 8 Theaters as part of this year's Asian Film Series. Young Koki Maeda stars as Koichi, who yearns for his family to be reunited after a divorce separates him from his younger brother Ryunosuke (played by real-life brother Oshiro Maeda). Then news arrives of a new train line which will connect their two towns, and Koichi becomes convinced that the force of two trains passing each other in opposite directions at full speed will be powerful enough to grant wishes. He gathers a group of friends and sets off to make his dreams come true.

I Wish

is the second in this year's Asian Film Series, and it will play at Village 8 Theaters for one week, ending on Thursday, September 20. Village 8 is located at 4014 Dutchmans Lane. Further theater information and showtimes, as well as information on the Asian Film Series, can be found at the Village 8 website.

Image: Internet Movie Database