So much average

Memorable, crazy movie

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Set in 1968 this film follows the life of Toru Watanabe during a particularly troubled time in his life. His friend Kizuki took his own life a few years previously and quite by chance Toru bumps into Kizuki's former girlfriend Naoko; one thing leads to another and they sleep together on the night of her twentieth birthday. She hasn't got over Kizuki though and spirals into depression and moves to a sanatorium in a forest near Kyoto. While she is there Toru meets another girl, Midori and they become friends. He is attracted to her but loves Naoko. He is conflicted as to what he should do; Naoko represents a past he can't forget and Midori offers a chance for a new, brighter future for him.I can't say how this compares to the novel as I've not read it, however I really enjoyed the film. It is told as a fairly gentle pace and looks beautiful in the scenes in the countryside. It gets off to a fairly downbeat start as we see Kizuki killing himself and there is the constant feeling that he may not be the last person to take their own life… and indeed he isn't. The characters feel more real than those in many romances as we see the various difficulties they face. Sex is dealt with in a fairly matter of fact way; characters discuss sex and sexual problems is surprising detail and when they do get intimate it has a slight awkwardness not usually seen during such scenes in most movies. The cast put in solid but fairly restrained performances. Overall I'd recommend this to people looking for something a little different.

Watched this in an effort to get into Murakami in an effort to actually read fictions. Absolutely loving it. Murakami's stories (or at least this adaptation) doesn't seem as messed-up as I try to expect it to be. But then again I've watched Oldboy, so everything else is tame in comparison.I haven't read the book, but watching this film made me believe that everyone has their own struggles in the past, and Tran Anh Hung succeeded in delivering it in such few shots, especially for side characters such as Nagasawa, Natsumi, and Reiko.So I'm gonna go in-depth on why I love each and every single character in this film, and how are they so, human.Nagasawa: He's a great friend, but we all can agree that he's a dick to Natsumi. He is almost too simple of a character until his final advice to Watanabe revealed something. He said, "Don't ever feel sorry for yourself, only degenerates feel that way." It showed that he probably has battled with self-esteem issues in the past, and he had come far to get to where he is right now. Was it family abuse? He's also very ambitious, did he came out from poverty? Natsumi: She loves Nagasawa so much, almost unconditionally. It's the greatest feeling in the world, also the worst. The moment she killed herself, albeit being told in narrative, was the most heart-breaking moment in the film for me.Midori: Despite coming from a broken home, she decides to stay optimistic. Flirtatious, but respect the social contract of being in a relationship, hence she only fully came out to Watanabe after she broke up, and still wait for him to settle things with his other love interest.My favorite moment of Midori is when she talked about of her idea of love. She want to be pampered, loved, and protected, it all sounded almost selfish. But I appreciate her honesty. She just don't want to be hurt again.Reiko: She is portrayed as the mentor figure in the film, especially with the sensei title. But all the while she was accompanying the couple, I couldn't help but wonder, how does she feels? She's a human being too, a woman. She also deserves to have the feeling of companionship.I was partly relieved for the end scene with Watanabe. Though I genuinely panicked for him (he promised to go back straight to Midori, but he also shouldn't refuse Reiko as she, too, deserve happiness), I was relieved that Reiko was given the chance to re-discover what she has long lost.Naoko: We never really know what made her plunged too deep into depression and schizophrenia, but we know that she was in a lot of pain. Too much pain. Unsure of her real feelings towards Kitsuki, inability to really experience physical intimacy, hopelessness, not getting answers, too much.I can't articulate enough on how I relate to her the most, but I do.Kitsuko: He's someone interesting. Very short airtime in the film, but only towards the end we can sympathize what Kitsuki had to go through. One of it being, unable to make Naoko happy? Watanabe: He's the guy who has to take everything in, from everyone in his life. Except during the time Kitsuko, and later Naoko, kill themselves, he never showed much reaction. Naoko showed up after years of disappearance? Okay. Disappear again? Okay. Midori flirted with him and describing very visual sexual encounter? Okay. She got mad and cut contact with him? Okay. Nagasawa and Natsumi making the dinner uncomfortable? Okay. Reiko came back asking to sleep together? Okay. OMG WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE IN WATANABE'S LIFE.What I love most about him, however, is his overbearing sense of responsibility towards Naoko. Like what he told Midori, even if hypothetically he doesn't love Naoko, he still have to be with her. Poignant, but beautiful.Well that's it. I'm grateful I watched this as there are too many things to take away from. Putting this into words so I will have a record on how I feel about the story, before getting into the book!

I had seen this book in the store in the "In the movies" section and fell in love with the cover. I never read it though, because I wanted to watch the movie first. I'm a huge fan of Japanese movies and dramas and was really excited with it came out on netflix and watched it instantly. I was blown away by how beautiful it was shot, the scenery, the lighting, everything was absolutely gorgeous with out being overwhelming and dramatic. I thought that the story was so tragically romantic and stunning, and very different from other romance films where everything is peachy and they never really talk about things or show things as horrible as severe mental illness and suicide. While i wasn't expecting it to be as explicit as it was I was so glad that it was. From all the dramas and films I've watched from Japan, a lot of the time the actors will more so press their lips together and not actually kiss, it was a breath of fresh air to see them kissing compassionately and being so intimate. And to see such wonderful acting! And it was also refreshing to have such an "in your face" story that really peeled back a lot of rose color that is applied to romance films and cut the crap and really showed what it's like to deal with things that come out of loving someone. I thought that there were a few thing in this film that didn't seem very necessary to the story and probably could have just been cut out, but all of it was amazing and I'm very glad I watched it. I now hope to read the book.Also, I hope that those who enjoyed this might also consider watching 5 Liters of Tears. It's a fantastic Japanese drama that also is very deep and in your face about living with a terminal illness.

"I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me . . . And when I awoke, I was alone, this bird had flown . . . ."Now here's the way to tell a love story: Take attractive but flawed lovers, stir the pot with coming of age and depression, add some sub textual commentary on the absurdity and complexity of finding love, nurturing it, and letting it go. Yet, most importantly, begin with a renowned author like Haruki Murkami, and you will be guaranteed to produce brooding, aloof, postmodern heroes, the most romantic kind.All the time during this sturm and drang is the specter of death, that reality and metaphor for the terminal nature of anything we attempt to build such as enduring and enriching love. Toru (Ken'ichi Matsuyama) has a Jules-and-Jim relationship with Naoko (Rinko Kikuchi) and Kizuki (Kengo Kora), all just shy of 20 years old, until Kizuki inexplicably commits suicide. Thus death comes to loving teens, whose lives will forever be colored by Kizuki's violence.As Toru tries to come to grips with Naoko' growing depression and the affections of at least two other lovely ladies, as must happen to handsome, mysterious young men, he witnesses the vagaries of love, some of it tied to the changing nature of youth and some to fate. Although he seems slow to realize that the mystery is also lethal, he grows in a healthy way to expressing and negotiating love as adults eventually learn to do.Japanese director Anh Hung Tran gives an understated lyricism to his landscapes and seasonal changes, serving themes of loss and recovery as the seasons exact their emotional responses. In fact most of the film is like a tone poem, punctuated by impressionism tied to the reality that death so successfully brings to the most romantic setups.". . . The melancholy unity between the living and the dead." James Joyce