Synopsis
Iki combines old and new technologies to craft a film that captures both the visuals and sounds—like the hum of cicadas—of a sweltering Japanese summer. Black-and-white photographs of a Shinto shrine, a summer landscape, and an old Japanese-style house serve as the backdrop, while CGI technology adds visual intrigue through an unusual little girl and her ghostly frog companion. In this story, the ghost is more of a curiosity than a frightening presence, and the use of a fish-eye lens along with other distortions conveys both the oppressive humidity of summer and hints that the frog is an imaginary creation of the young protagonist.