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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

Customer Reviews: Total numer of reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 "Beautiful, haunting and puzzling" I did enjoy this film, for its focus on the beauty of the Japanese landscape and the potential beauty of life, despite loss. Its relevance to Buddhist culture is undeniable. But for all the Japanese films and Chinese films I've viewed (and collected) over the years, I remain puzzled why the director chose to avoid any closeups of any of the main characters. In this case, the protagonist (who many of us have seen in several Japanese TV drama series) has an unusally expressive face and voice. These were buried in shadow or obscured by distance for most of the film, giving the production a clear distance from the viewer, both from physical and emotional perspectives. This must be viewed several times before the benefit is realized, I think. "I just couldn't get into it . . ." I love Japanese and Chinese movies, so I had high expectations for this one. But it was . . . too slow. Not in a good way. I'm used to slow movies, but this was too inert. I understand the main character's grief--we all know what it's like to lose a loved one to death or splitting apart, and how long it takes to recover. The movie did a good job of accentuating that, but the movie is just too uneventful, even for a foreign movie. Still good, though. "Simply the best film i have ever seen" i watched this film for the first time in a japanese film class and was totally unprepared. The combination of the director and dp's masterful use of all natural lighting and only two moving shots creates a beautiful and haunting story. The tone and visual asthetic of this film are a much the point as the characters if not more. In a word it is simply breath taking. "A top ten." This film is in my top ten. I first saw it in a theater, where the natural light, amazing use of simple landscape, and the day to day aesthetic of japanese life is best appreciated. One thing the film is about for me is the way beauty is temporary and permanent all at the same time. We can lose things (including human relations) of great beauty and still forget how we are surrounded by it always. The ocean figures in this film as one example of this idea. A perfect story of love, a slow meditation on life, a beautiful canvas of light and dark. "Wasted Time" Over the recent holiday season I rented this video because my girlfriend is a fan of the leading actress. I was happy to give it a try, given that I am a fan of Japanese culture and have resided there for several years. Judging from the box I expected a gripping story. How disappointed I was. The film had very little plot to actually engross the viewer. Also the cinematography made it difficult to watch. The director used very poor lighting and constant long shots, making it very difficult to see details in the characters' interactions or the settings used. There were also several scenes where the white subtitles were invisible over white or very light backgrounds - a pet peeve of mine when watching subtitled films. I confess that half-way through the film I gave up trying to be interested and did something more worthwhile (anything really). My girlfriend endured, insisting that it could only get better. An hour later she screamed "That's all!?!" She was envious of me for bailing out when I did.