Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Micitype Pretty Good

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Aleksandar Sarkic This is the first Miike movie i have watched, and for me this is really work of art. The movie is very slow paced and even meditative at the times,which i like it the most, story is not to complicated, but it has the heart and the soul. Acting in the movie is amazing, my favorite character in the movie is Ujiie (the yakuza) played by Renji Ishibashi, he was so fun to watch, also Mako and Masahiro Motoki are great in their roles. The Landscapes of Yunnan gives me chills, i was amazed by beautiful landscapes, worth watching only because of that.I recommend this movie to everyone who loves Japanese/Asian cinema, nature and locations out of modern world, you will enjoy for sure.I am looking forward to see more movies from mister Takashi Miike.My grade: 8/10.

gothic_a666 Every now and then Miike will depart from the hyper violent aesthetics for which he is know and produce something that is both sweet and moving. 'The Bird People in China' is one of these gems that attest to the director's great versatility. Which is not to say that Miike's staples are not present here, they are merely reinterpreted. After all one of the mains is a spastic yakuza but his character undergoes severe transformations as the movie progresses deep into dreamy landscapes of endless green mountains. The other main character is less typical in Miike's filmography but is a very Japanese trademark of the jaded young salaryman.The combination of these two characters begins as a comedy and the initial stages of the movie border on adventure. Citizens used to the frantic life of Tokyo are flung into rural China and forced to match completely opposite personalities as the journey becomes more and more insane. The cultural gap is evident and very interesting in that it is within Asia. All too often there is a tendency for missing the fact that there are profound differences within the Asian continent.China here is not only a real country but it is a land of dream. The imagery and the theme of people flying is reminiscent to Taoist concepts of inner landscapes of the soul and the movie corroborates this. But the wealth of influences that went into creating this work of art were manifold, so that it is not all that surprising that it should echo the Heart of Darkness in later moments. And yet it remains a solid unit in which a sense of prevailing ethereal beauty harmonizes everything.For all the dreamy atmosphere that is so dominant the ending is realistic. Idealism is sobered by realism. Life lessons are learned in a place akin to paradise but to remain there may be counterproductive. Or perhaps it is simply a different choice. It is up to the viewer to decide and to enjoy this wonderful experience of beautiful film making.

bluefish321 I've just finished watching The Bird People in China and have skimmed the other reviews on IMDb. Like most of the others, I do enjoy Miike's work, though not to the level of unconditional love that seems to be common here. In my limited experience, around nine Miike films so far, none have been a waste of time and several are fairly amazing. Notably Audition, though definitely not for the faint of heart.This film left me with mixed emotions. It truly has touching moments, but it also suffers from common issues with Miike films... disjointed structure, unmotivated action (particularly from the Yakuza character), a bit of excessive violence, a kitchen sink approach to ideas... every possibility explored, even when simple would have been more effective, and finally a liberal borrowing from other films. In fact I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned in other reviews. Miike clearly took much of the premise and emotional content from the movie Local Hero. A corporate drone begrudgingly travels to a remote village and, to his amazement, is touched by the locals and the lifestyle. There's more to the similarities but I don't want to give away too much. Though I will note that he pays homage to his source material by throwing in a Scottish song as a major motif. I also didn't buy into the ending... it seemed to detract from the more realistic aspects of the film.All of this aside, the film is worth seeing. The scenery is amazing and fairly unique, the photography handsome (considering the budget), Masahiro Motoki as Wada is quite good (as he was in Okuribito/Departures), many of the secondary characters are wonderfully drawn (another Miike specialty), it's genuine and funny at times, and it takes you on an unusual journey, an actual adventure... rarely a dull moment.

joro boro If you are going to see one Miike movie (just to see what the hell all the fuss is about), make it this one."Heart of Darkness" (aka 'Apocalypse Now') fades as a Euro-centric teen angst tale in comparison to this delicate gem, which has it all: mystery, search, innocence, innocence lost, passion, crime, sacrifice, sacrilege, comedy, drama, tragedy, and best of all - everything is carried by myths and dreams.In the words of Miike himself (from an interview in the 'extras' section of the DVD): "...cinema not just for entertainment" However, if you feel like venturing further into Miike territory, be cautioned, it's a treacherous zone and takes some stunt-level adaptation.