The antidote to recent youth films crammed with crime schemes and rave scenes, Hiroshi Okuhara's debut feature reveals the internal rhythms of individuals who would rather hang out than make their dot-com millions. The baby-faced Kawamoto, always looking as if he's just awakened from a lengthy nap, wastes his days at a neighborhood pool hall/rehearsal space with his best friend, a young woman with similarly limited conversation skills. Both communicate mainly through music, improvising songs on guitar, drum, and piano with the help of their new piano-tuner friend. The three also kill time with the only adult around, a jovial drunk with possible yakuza connections. Remarkable for capturing the rhythms of new youth culture while avoiding any trace of cell phones, computers, or DJs, Timeless Melody embraces the joys of doing nothing, where a radiant silence shines far greater than action, money, or words, and the spaces between sounds create melody.-Jason Sanders