I'm not referring to a location of the movie, but I'm talking about a movie that is more than an influence on this one. It tries so hard to achieve what was so seamless and flawless over 50 years ago in a movie called "Tokyo Story" (international title).
But let me focus on the faults of this one, since I did review Tokyo Story before (I even watched this). I can see that some people might find it touching and cry. But the same can be said about almost any other soap opera shown on TV. If you let yourself into that world you're bound to cry.
But the ideology shown here, the overblown symbolic signs/pictures are more or less ridiculed by the way, they are either filmed or portrayed. You can't feel anything for characters who are an open void, while trying to project something completely different. The only saving graces are some social commentary and even those don't work as good as they could (family portrayed), giving us hints, but never fully exploring the threads and leaving us hanging and waiting for some (re)solution that never comes. And the one that comes at the end is so full of itself (melodrama anyone?), that you almost can't bear it ...
Showing symbols and ideals from Japan ain't enough to convey that one (in this case the director) truly understood those concepts. More like a tourist translation for those who are satisfied with less and only a glance of what really lies beneath! I can only refer again to Tokyo Story, a better watch and a much more compelling and coherent story, that has everything this story/film misses!
But let me focus on the faults of this one, since I did review Tokyo Story before (I even watched this). I can see that some people might find it touching and cry. But the same can be said about almost any other soap opera shown on TV. If you let yourself into that world you're bound to cry.
But the ideology shown here, the overblown symbolic signs/pictures are more or less ridiculed by the way, they are either filmed or portrayed. You can't feel anything for characters who are an open void, while trying to project something completely different. The only saving graces are some social commentary and even those don't work as good as they could (family portrayed), giving us hints, but never fully exploring the threads and leaving us hanging and waiting for some (re)solution that never comes. And the one that comes at the end is so full of itself (melodrama anyone?), that you almost can't bear it ...
Showing symbols and ideals from Japan ain't enough to convey that one (in this case the director) truly understood those concepts. More like a tourist translation for those who are satisfied with less and only a glance of what really lies beneath! I can only refer again to Tokyo Story, a better watch and a much more compelling and coherent story, that has everything this story/film misses!