Memories of Matsuko

I'm always slightly wary of Japanese movies; so many of them are either extremely bloodthirsty or just plain weird. Thankfully this one wasn't (although the start had us thinking it was heading towards the 'weird' category). This one built to be a beautiful and touching tale of the eponymous Matsuko. Highly recommended.

It's hard to gauge this one and I part think my scoring is too high, but at the same time too low for what is an intriguing but at times drawn out tale.

Very much done in what I would describe as the modern Japanese plastic pop culture style that we're seeing more and more of over in this country.

So the pluses.

* The story is entertaining, draws you in, makes you happy, makes you sad as you follow the trials of Matsuko over the 53 years of her life, as seen by her nephew Shou as he gets drawn in to her past while clearing out flat of his previously unknown, now dead, aunt.

* The musical interludes work well and add to the story, whilst also inject some of the comedy.

* The acting is good, as is the cinematographic work.

The negatives.

* It's long and at times drawn out. There were periods where I found myself looking at the clock and wondering how long was left. At 130 minutes long it probably about a half hour too much with the way it is told.

* The subtitles feel like they have been done without the movie being watched. The text works but too often is placed over Japanese text on screen making them hard to read, and then at one the movie displayed English text, except now we had the same in the subtitles as well, with the two being on the same part of the screen making neither legible.

So as a whole I'm still not sure whether this is a good or an average movie and I suspect over time my mind will move from one answer to the other.

Glorious visuals, terrific music, great acting, This film will make you laugh out loud and the pathos will make you cry. From the very start, you are drawn into the amazing world of Tetsuya Nakashima. The framed deep-focus shots make you feel like you are looking into another world and there are so many astonishing scenes with wonderful use of CG. Film references include The Wizard of Oz, Film Noir and classic Hollywood musicals, even to the extent of the opening and closing credits.

Rent this, you will not regret it.

It made us laugh it made us cry - it had analolgies and metaphors, not consciously sentimental but moving - a truly great film - not a movie

Very interesting movie, what I love about this movie ( and Japanese dramas in general) is that you don't know what happens next, you always surprise.