Stylish but barely mediocre overall

In truth, any opportunity to see the film on the big screen is welcome.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

This is less the story of the twins' eighth year, and more an intertwined set of narratives on Japanese cultural attitudes towards conformity, the state of immediately post-WWII Japanese society, and the spiritual freedom that the twins experienced, and how all these contributed to the twins becoming artists. There are some minor errors in the subtitling, but an intelligent viewer will eventually resolve these in their own mind. Yes, this film is a representation of events in their eighth year, but it is an exhibition of influences rather than a story. All the more charming for it. This full of realism linked with child-like fancy, fantasy, and whimsy.

The Music is a very pleasant adaptation of Western Medieaval tunes.The Magic Realism which Latin America has laid somewhat of a claim to, is lovely used here, of course giving a 'true' Japanese touch to the supernatural stuff.The scenery and imagery is breathtaking !! And the twin boys, who's story this is, are a delight.Mama plays great too, and the director has a gentle and good touch for all the other kids, which means he is a fine craftsman.Soft, laid back, nostalgic and utterly charming, this story is a heartwarming winner, and can't be recommended enough !! What an enormous pleasure !

This is a film about two (very naughty but cute!) twins growing up in the post-World War II Japan countryside. The brothers grow up to become artists, one in Kyoto and the other in Tokyo, and the film is their reflection back on their early school days growing up, around ages 8-10 and living in a sylvan country village. I didn't find the film (which I just saw on video) to be captivating, but it was perhaps worth watching to enjoy a bit of local color and get a sense of what late 1940s rural Japan might have been like. --Dilip 12/30/2001

"E no naka no boku no mura" is a really astonishing film absolutely deserving the silver bear from the Berlinale 1996 for Yoichi Higashi. A film about two japanese painters telling the story of their childhood on the japanese countryside this film creates a striking picture of japanese country life in 1948.