Over the years, Hillary Rodham (later Clinton) would climb the US American political ladder almost to the top (which I'm sure you knew), but this movie is set in 1969, and 21 year old Hillary (Addison Timlin) has only just graduated from college, and has accepted a summer job at a fish cannery in Valdez, Alaska, mostly because she wanted to experience sunshine all day and all night first hand. However, she isn't happy at the job, as she finds it impossible to connect with her co-workers let alone make friends - and she's bad at her job as well, so much so that she's fired eventually. But on her way home from work she meets two Japanese men, Ryohei (TJ Kayama) and Mitsuru (Toshiji Takeshima), whom she relates to since they are outcasts just like her, and with whom she eventually goes for drinks. She discusses her political ideas with the men, but it soon becomes clear that she's full of ambition but lacks experience and ideals - and she's also still very naive, even for her age, failing to realize that the two men initially want to get into her panties. It's only eventually that she really warms up to Ryohei, and eventually even gets intimate with him, but while he actually falls in love with her, all the conversations they have, which also for the first time in her life confront Hillary with another culture, shape her political views and ideology ...

Despite this being about Hillary Clinton, this film doesn't even claim to be based on a true story, and actually calls itself an un-bio-pic - which doesn't say it doesn't try to make a point about the woman, just not in the traditional way. Instead it's more of a meditation on her initial spark and early growth as a politician, told in the guise of a character piece that (without proof) tells the audience what might have happened. And thanks to its unexcited way of storytelling, its arthouse affinity, and also its wonderful and wonderfully unusual Alaskan backdrops, this works beautifully, and also universally, as no matter what you think about the woman, you'll very probably be touched by this film in one way or another.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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