Haru

Made in the early years of internet chat rooms, Morita’s mid-1990s standout follows a young salaryman in the city with the username “[Haru]” who becomes fast friends with a fellow named Hoshi who lives in a rural town. Their anonymity allows them to open up about their loves, struggles, and cinephilia. One day, Hoshi reveals that she is a woman, but that doesn’t damage the strength of their friendship. When Haru takes a work trip to a town near Hoshi’s home, he catches a glimpse of her from the bullet train window… Morita’s keen interest in new technology and an enduring love for trains come together to create a charming tale of connection in an alienating world. Intrigued by the popularity of subtitled foreign films in Japan at the time, Morita decided to make the onscreen text itself a character in the film, resulting in a pop-avant-garde aesthetic ahead of its time. A romantic tale about lovers who message on the internet, released two years before Nora Ephron’s You’ve Got Mail.