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Maborosi Director: Hirokazu Koreeda Number of Items: 1 Format: Color, Widescreen Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Running Time: 110 minutes Studio: New Yorker Films Product Group: DVD Release Date: 2000-11-21 Buy from Amazon

From Amazon.com Hirokazu Kore-eda's haunting, graceful Japanese film features a concentrated and powerfully reserved performance by Makiko Esumi as Yumiko, a young woman whose life is defined by the death and disappearance of her loved ones. As a child, she witnessed her grandmother's walking away from her family; as an adult, she must face the fact that her husband has committed suicide. Impeccably lit and framed, this self-consciously classical first feature blends characteristics of two of the great Japanese masters: a sensitive portrait of a woman's suffering is reminiscent of Mikio Naruse and a serene, minimalist style is suggestive of Yasujiro Ozu. At times, Kore-eda seems to be trudging too dutifully in the path of his illustrious predecessors, and there is little in the film that could be qualified as original. Yet Maborosi remains convincing in its subtle, sustained moods and the quiet confidence of its approach. --Dave Kehr

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 "doesnt work dull and boring" interesting story line but shallow and goes nowhere. kubrick style drawn out and paced shots are unimaginative, poorly composed, and add little or nothing to the experience. looks like the ending is just a contrivance to exit a lost story line. i've lived in rural japan and it's the most boring place on earth (perhaps the intent here but hardly something you'd pay money to suffer thru or for masochists only), you dont think the younger generations flee to the cities for no reason at all? "boring, overrated" I never saw this film in the theater, so I can't be completely sure that this is how it's supposed to look. But, assuming that the DVD transfer is accurate, I find all the praise for Kore-eda's "painterly" visuals completely undeserved. The film is shot entirely with natural light; so, in the daytime indoor scenes, the glare from windows and doorways blots out or silhouettes everything; and in the nightime indoor scenes, everything is murky and underexposed. It all looks horribly amateurish. The outdooor scenes come off somewhat better, but slightly grainy overall, almost as if they had been shot on a digital camera. Cinematography (and possible bad transfer) aside, there's also the matter of Kore-eda's excessively static direction. I can appreciate the still, quiet camera work of Ozu or Jarmusch, but Kore-eda takes this style and pushes it to ridiculous lengths. His camera NEVER moves, not even for an occasional cut or panning or tracking shot. It just sits there, dull and inert, while the scenes drag on and on and then abruptly end, almost arbitrarily. I guess this technique is supposed to impart a contemplative effect to a scene, but again, it just seems amateurish. The performance by fashion-model-turned-actress Makiko Esumi, as the grieving young widow Yumiko, reflects the director's numb, soporific visual style. Instead of being quietly torn by grief, she comes across as merely affectless. Maybe the director wanted to use a zombie-like non-actress and comatose camera work to convey the numbness of grief, but the result is far from edifying or moving or even interesting. The ultimate effect of this movie is only stupefying boredom. "TERRIBLE..TERRIBLE BORING MOVIE! " I am a lover of Japanese movies. I even purchased a masterpiece (Sadakan No. 8) for $50 for a VHS. I have a huge collection of Japanese jems. So I know what I'm talking about. Heck I'm even Japanese myself :-) But let me tell you--MABOROSI must mean MAJOR BORING..This movie can be condensed easily into 30 minutes and probably be still too boring. Yumiko is traumatized as a kid as grandma says she wants to go away and die...please stop you are too young to die..but grandma leaves anyway and Yumiko dreams about this repeatedly. Yumiko has a hubby and kid and hubby commits suicide. She mops throughout the movie from start to finish. She wears nothing but black and rarely smiles and sustains a flat affect. A totally unrealistic movie; in real life, Yumiko would have to worry about getting a job and pay bills rather than worrying about her psychological traumas because she has a kid to take care of. (her husband was some kind of laborer.) THE MOVIE IS DREADFULLY BORING. BORING. BORING. BORING. It goes into trivial daily life and irrelevant conversations and becomes the whole of the movie with very little plot. It goes on and on and on making you sleepy sleepy sleepy... Masterpiece--HOW ON EARTH????? It's another example how winning an international film prize does not necessarily mean it is good. Now if you have problems with insomnia or need a sleep remedy-please by all means purchase this. It's hard to follow only because it puts you to sleep sooo well! I'm not exaggerating. If you decide to purchase this BORING movie, and believe the hype of the critics as it is highly overrated, well, I warned you. Thank you. "Follow the Light" If one is familiar with Kore-eda's later film _After Life_ one already knows that death and memory play key parts in his films. After creating stellar documentaries concerning such subjects as AIDS and what it is like for a Korean man passing himself off as Japanese for decades, Kore-eda created _Maborosi_ a film that takes a close look at the greif caused by losing a loved one. The film starts off by showing a young girl named Yumiko trying to convince her grandmother to return home, however, the grandmother is determined to return home to die. Yumiko is unable to prevent her grandmother from leaving and this weighs on her young mind. Warp twelve or so years later and Yumiko is married to her childhood friend Ikuo and is the mother of a three year old son. Yumiko and Ikuo are far from well off, they live in a very small apartment with incredibly thin walls, but they seem to be decently happy. Well, at least Yumiko seems happy. After her husband brings home his bike and leaves with an umbrella, the next thing we learn is that he was killed walking on the train tracks. A suspected suicide. Time passes and Yumiko's mother arranges her a marriage with a widower who lives in Kanazawa. Unlike her small apartment, Yumiko and her son move into a large old house with her new husband, his father, and his daughter. Ikuo gets along beautifully with his step-grandfather and step-sister and while it seems Yumiko likes her husband well enough, the shadow of Ikuo is always preasant. This is a gorgeous film. Kore-eda does a wonderful job depicting the living conditions of a lower working class family and goes on to show ramshackle, but lovely older homes by the sea. Yumiko's husband's home looks incredibly shabby on the outside, but the polished hardwood floors and traditional furniture are extraordinary. Kore-eda also pays close attention to nature by showing the natural beauty of the region. "If you love Japanese culture, you'll love this film" Maborosi (Maboroshi no Hikari) is a beautiful film. It's simply one of the best movies in my Japanese collection (which isn't small). Not that having lived for several years in the rural area where much of the movie is set biases my opinion. The imagery and music are wonderful. The story is contemplative and haunting. Esumi Makiko is beautiful. The acting is as natural as the Japanese countryside. Even after many viewings, this movie holds up -- I wish I could find more like this one.