Hoarder on the Border

In Takayuki Kayano’s ode to cleanliness, our sense of self can get lost amid the trash.

“I think if I’m happy now, all is right with me.”

Cleanliness is next to holiness. The idea that it is your duty to keep your home and life clean has never really resonated with me, as someone who is perpetually fighting a losing battle against clutter. Keeping things tidy is tricky, man, especially in a small London apartment. Thankfully I’ve never quite reached the point that many of the characters have reached in Hoarder on the Border.

Ritsuki (Ryo Shinoda) is a quiet and unimpulsive character, a piano player turned piano teacher who feels unsatisfied with his profession. Despite the misgivings of his long-term girlfriend, he decides he might get more out of working for a domestic cleaning company. Led by the enthusiastic Ichiki (Masayasu Kitayama), the team gets to work on cleaning up the trash-filled houses of hoarders, and Ritsuki begins to break out of his shell.

Hoarder on the Border lives in this perfect blend of comedy and drama that seems wholly unique to Japanese cinema. It’s quietly quirky, with plenty of moments of silliness, but keeps every small vignette rooted in realism and drama, allowing the movie to explore the reason people hoard or simply refuse to clean. It’s a perfect blend of both, never feeling too heavy handed, nor overly light.

As a protagonist, Ritsuki isn’t exactly anything to write home about. His own hyper-repressed personality makes him something of a charisma sponge, especially compared to the clients he helps. It’s not that Shinoda is a bad actor, this is clearly intentional stuff, but it means that in a movie that is ostensibly about him, he gets lost in the mix.

Watching this film, I was reminded of a lot of other films. It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Departures, which had the similar premise of a failed musician taking on what is typically considered a dirty job, and finding personal happiness there. The biggest changes are in its tone, with Departures leaning heavily into the tear-jerking, while Hoarder is happier keeping things light. But ultimately, both films talk about the importance of letting go of the past, and starting over fresh, and its multi-story approach allows Hoarder to explore this in many different ways.

Not every vignette hits the same, and there are certainly some that stand out more than others. Each story tries to focus on another aspect of hoarding, from mental health, to regret, but the one that I liked the most was Kaneda (Shigeru Izumiya), an old man who’s become a nuisance to the neighbourhood.  His son urges on the company to clean, and along the way they discover who he really is: a man who’s lost his wife, and just given up on looking after his house – which includes plenty of priceless treasures.  Sometimes it takes only a minor modification in your life for greater change to happen. That’s what Hoarder on the Border tells us. A cluttered house is a cluttered mind, after all.

Verdict: Filled with charm, engaging characters and an attitude that never takes itself too seriously, Hoarder on the Border is a sweet, but not overly sentimental look at what to do when your life turns to trash.

Overall entrtainment: 7/10
Violence: 0/10
Sex: Some suspicious DVDs/10
Fantasy hallucinations: Just one
Raffle box: notoriously hard to draw from
Dipping sticks: My guys are more obsessed than Walter White

Hoarder on the Border (2023)
Japanese

———————

Director: Takayuki Kayano
Writers: Takayuki Kayano

CAST

Ryo Shinoda – Ritsuki
Masayasu Kitayama – Ichiki
Tomu Muto – Mariko
Shigeru Izumiya – Kaneda
Mark Sekioka – Von de Guzman
Yumiko Nakamura – Asuka