"A universe completely outside the mainstream of dominant thought"
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Critic Francis de Laveleye's opinion piece on the film "L'ikigaï"
Ikigai
Gwenny Nurtantio
2026/03
Life mission. This is a combination of the Japanese words iki (生き), which can be translated as "life", and gai (甲斐), which means "value".
And also this book on the same subject: "Il en faut peu pour travailler mieux" , and this website: www.coachorganisation.com
You will discover a world completely outside the mainstream of prevailing thought.
It was through this film that I glimpsed its richness, originality and humor.
This film was screened in the Official Selection of the Oostende Filmfestival 2026 and was honored with 4th place in the Audience Award .
The choice of Ostend is not insignificant in this story which takes us there for several very tasty moments, a succulent dialogue in patois, surreal remarks on the dike and the beach, the subtle evocation of the worlds of James Ensor, Léon Spilliaert, Lewis Carroll, Raphael, or Arne Quinze among so many others that surface in many sequences.
It is easy to summarize the action: from childhood, we follow a young girl, Lynn Sumarni (played by Marie Phan ), in search of meaning, for her professional activity, for her life.
It all begins at school, and the portrayal of it is well worth the read. The characters, teachers and students alike, are caricatures that plunge us back into a not-so-distant past. Then come first loves and first jobs. Numerous events unfold at a rapid pace, often absurd and/or hilarious.
The soundtrack is surprisingly diverse, from Handel to Anaïs Cassiers, including Clément Corrillon who, not content with playing one of the roles, sings two works created for the film.
The camera follows, like an overexcited wasp, the tribulations of this seductive young girl, confronted in seemingly conventional circumstances (job search, participation in professional training, preparation for a fashion show…) but which are all “offbeat” like those that Buster Keaton, Jean Cocteau and other comic poets have offered us in this vein of the absurd and apparent nonsense.
To see these sessions ridiculed, during which pretentious interlocutors gorge themselves on concepts and pompous words, is a joy for those who have witnessed them.
Here nothing stops the director who maintains our curiosity through a kind of escalation of extravagance.
And on reflection, it's all very well thought out, with a touch of nice feminism, beneath these slightly juvenile, carnival-like aspects.
About the critic Francis de Laveleye
A graduate of INSAS, Francis de Laveleye worked in Belgium and France as an editor, production manager and assistant before producing more than 580 advertising films, as well as several documentaries and fiction films.
A former vice-president of the Film Centre's selection committee and lecturer at the ULB (Université Libre de Bruxelles), he also taught subjects related to film and copyright law. He is currently a partner and director of Éditions Jacques Brel and the Jacques Brel Foundation, and a member of the Union of Film Critics.
When and where can I see the film "L'ikigaï"?
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