Seen: June 7th, 2008 (ish)
Format: DVD
Rating: 9
If you're just here for recommendations, see this one soon.
For the rest of you, this isn't going to be very interesting because there's not much else to say than I loved it. I wavered between 8 and 9, but have to give it the fuller marks because it's so darn engaging.
This film requires a little commitment on your part. You'll need to be willing to be swept up in each moment as it unfolds. You'll need to listen and find its rhythm. You'll have to open you mind a little to the idiosyncracies of a different culture, and after doing so test the limits of your empathy a bit.
This is all required because of the film's simple and unflinching honesty. It exposes its characters to us; not merely introducing them but showing us their fears and staunchly protected secret desires. They may be exposed immediately or gradually, but with one exception, we become intimately aware of who they are and what drives them.
The exception is Tamako. And she may be the exception purely because she is as she appears. She is not without guile, not without secrecy, but her intentions are so plain, so honest and so obvious, even to the characters around her, that she needs no dark secret to make her interesting. Her grace, beauty, patience, kindness and wisdom are more than enought to win our hearts.
I won't go into any technical aspects other than to say they are generally excellent and often brilliant. Lighting, composition, movement are all used to excellent effect; the visual component of the storytelling doing justice to the writing, acting and direction.
Rant, rant, rave, rave; go see it already.
The Good: Looking for one thing, discovering another
The Bad: Stigmata, where ever you find them
The Ugly: Losing your hair
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