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Eureka Details

2000 Certificate 15
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 754 members

When a bus is violently hijacked in a small Japanese town, only three people survive: the guilt wracked driver Makoto (Koji Yakusho), and young brother and sister, Kozue and Naoki. Two years on, each of them, still traumatised by their ordeal, struggle to re-engage with life. But then one day Makoto impulsively buys a bus, and .. Read more

Starring Koji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Yohichiroh Saitoh
Director Shinji Aoyama
Genres Drama, World Cinema

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Eureka

When a bus is violently hijacked in a small Japanese town, only three people survive: the guilt wracked driver Makoto (Koji Yakusho), and young brother and sister, Kozue and Naoki. Two years on, each of them, still traumatised by their ordeal, struggle to re-engage with life. But then one day Makoto impulsively buys a bus, and sets off with Kozue and Naoki on a long journey across Japan, which becomes a cathartic odyssey of spiritual self-discovery. Shinji Aoyama's beautifully shot drama is a serene and resonant meditation on the psychological scars wrought upon the victims of terror and violence and of the courage and inner strength they must find to survive.

Starring Koji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Yoshiko Miyazaki, Yohichiroh Saitoh
Director Shinji Aoyama
Studio ARTIFICIAL EYE
Run time DVD: 3 hrs 38 mins
Certificate Certificate 15
Genres Drama, World Cinema
Language DVD: Japanese
Subtitles DVD: English
Released DVD: 22 Apr 2002
Production year: 2000
Format DVD

  • Critics' reviews (5) of Eureka

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    Director Shinji Aoyama has called this extraordinary film “a prayer for modern man, who is searching for the courage to go on living”. Inspired by John Ford's The Searchers, the story follows coach driver Koji Yakusho and siblings Aoi and Masaru Miyazaki, who are the only survivors of a tragic bus hijacking. Two years after the incident, Yakusho seeks out the traumatised teenagers and suggests a cross-country journey to salve their damaged souls. Nearly four hours in length, Aoyama's meditation on redemption allows for a measured discussion of memory, regret and the gradual erosion of cultural identity, while the decision to print Masaki Tamura's CinemaScope imagery in monochrome enhances the action's ethereal aura. Although a serial killer subplot intrudes upon the serenity of the odyssey, the overall atmosphere of the piece remains a deeply affecting experience.

    • Radio Times
    • Posted 29 Jan 2006

  • "...Compelling....A transforming experience....EUREKA has a luminosity expressive of its spirituality and has a score shattering in its spareness..."

    • Los Angeles Times
    • Posted 11 Mar 2005

  • Most helpful member's review of Eureka

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  • 38 out of 44 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Outstanding movie, definitely to be seen.

    A brother and sister take their daily bus ride to school. A young man in a suit pulls out a gun and hijacks the bus. Three executions and one police siege later, the hijacker is dead and the two children plus bus driver Makoto are the only ones not to be killed.

    This dramatic sequence happens in the very beginning of the movie, and the next 3.5 hours (which for me passed quickly!) deals with what happens afterwards for the survivors. The pace is 'slow' but suspensful, and is definitely a movie packed with symbolism, outstanding studies of people, some gorgeous camera angles, and a tinted black and white which was perfect for the movie.

    Although the movie is about coming to terms with tragedy, it is more a movie about enjoying life. It is also a small mirror into some parts of Japanese culture.

    Strongly recommended, although definitely not your typical 'high-octane shoot them up quick thrills' movie.

    Don't miss the 'extras', where there is a short 'interview' with the director.

      • Bruce M from Oxford, England
      • Posted 02 Aug 2004 21:20

  • Most recent members' review of Eureka

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  • 1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Thought provoking

    This is a thoughtful and provocative movie. It's long but it takes it's own time to develop the characters and the understanding of the impact of a traumatic event on the lives of those who survive. It also gives some very interesting glimpses of the reactions of other people towards those who live through a horrifying act of random violence.

      • KenS from London
      • Posted 01 Feb 2005 10:16

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Rating breakdown

754 Member ratings
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119
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82
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57
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63
  • 10
30

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      • When a bus is violently hijacked in a small Japanese town, only three people survive: the guilt wracked driver Makoto (Koji Yakusho), and young brother and sister, Kozue and Naoki. Two years on, each ...