Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Francene Odetta It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Jennifer Lynx When I first started on the path to learn about cinema, a friend noticed and started giving helpful suggestions and useful information. He also gifted me a copy of "Maborosi" (1995), by Kore-eda Hirokazu, known in the US as Hirokazu Koreeda. I finally found the right time to sit down and watch this film, and all I can say is, what a beautiful gift it was.This film is a work of art, a slow painting of light and shadow, of the play of seasons, and the journey one young woman makes from joy in life to sorrow in death and back again, sort of. Ikuo and Yomiko are childhood friends who grow up together, get married, and start a family. Through a tragic accident, Ikuo is killed and Yomiko and her infant son must go on without him. She remarries and attempts to find answers to her unanswerable questions in an isolated seaside village with another widower and his young daughter.There is poetry in the cinematography of this movie and this story. There is symmetry and slow, rhythmic movement, extreme long shots, many with no movement at all. They give one a moment to pause and reflect. It is completely opposite the whirlwind we call life of alarms, and soccer practices, and time cards, and business lunches. "Maborosi" has very little dialogue, but it works because words aren't always necessary or even desired. There are shared moments, looks between one another, glimpses of daily life, the sounds of the surf, and a few words which go a long way. Stairs, trains, and windows are predominant themes. It is a fascinating glimpse into rural Japanese culture. Finally, the soundtrack is brilliant and is the perfect emotional backdrop to the story. It was so sad, but not without moments of hope. I'll definitely revisit this gem.

Pierre Radulescu The story is told with a large economy of words, of actions, of images: it is a supremely ascetic film. The people are always in the distance, the images always in the dark. The only images that are clear are the scenes remembered by the protagonist: the woman that lost her first spouse.It is a very radical cinematographic approach. I would say that it cannot be more radical than that. It is the movie from the mind of the protagonist.But if you have the guts to follow this ascetic movie you'll be generously rewarded. Because it is actually an exquisite artwork. Yes, many images are left in obscurity: it is actually a great play of light and obscure. As for the images that have meaning for the protagonist, the camera is in such moments like caressing the whole: the scenery becomes then pure visual choreography.

dumsumdumfai this is hard to get movie if you have not experienced the death of a close friend or family member. it is entirely visual but reflective of mood - the deep void that one retreats to when a lost happens.when watching a film, the mood of the auther and audience must match to some degree for connection to happen. and for this film, you must be at least 80% close or you will be bored, lost or disinterested.each scene provide space for you to think, feel, reminisced - not necessary what is happening in the story - maybe in "your" own story. there is a little bit of dialogue in the end to summarize everything. a masterpiece with great cinematography that reflects on one singular emotion -mourning.

Alli Antar I rarely watch the same movie more than once, but this one was so beautiful, I simply had to watch it again, paying full price to see it on the big screen each time. What I love the most about this film is the way that director Hirokazu Kore-Eda captures nature and humans as part of it, perhaps most eloquently portrayed by the scene in which rain drops on a window frame the face of the grief-stricken stoic-countenanced protagonist. The film begins with the story of a little girl's loss of her grandmother, and continues on with the story of the same little girl, now a young woman and the film's protagonist, whose life is again dramatically altered by the sudden death of her husband. Throughout the film, as a way of coping with the loss, she attempts to understand why he killed himself. My favorite scene in the film occurs near the end, when the protagonist watches a distant funeral procession by the sea. One has to wonder if it is Kore-eda's reflection of the woman's psyche - it is as if the funeral procession is a dream - and she is watching herself grieve from a distance? However, the organic nature of the scene seems to point to the fact that death, though often not explainable, is also a part of nature that humans must learn to accept. This film portrays the woman with exquisite sensitivity. I highly recommend this film.