Island of Light (2006)

Island of Light was a truly unique film about the bullied loner Hiromi Suzuki and her struggle after losing her dad. She leaves school due to the bullying and locks herself up in her room as she doesn't want to face her grandparents either. Through her loneliness she turns to the internet and meets and is invited by her friend, Kenmun, to visit him on his island. Hiromi finds that this might be the island that her mother (who left when Hiromi was two) lives on. So she sets off on a journey to Ishigaki Island. That's about the first 15 minutes of the film so I'll let you watch the rest. That being said, the movie moves at a slow pace so if your not into movies like this, Island of Light is not for you. But on the other hand the story works out well and may even jerk tears in a scene or two.

Hiroko Takeuchi managed to create believable characters and Tetsuya Matsushima managed to bring them to life through film. All the actors fit their characters and for the most part do a pretty good job. Mikako Tabe did a very good job of playing Hiromi Suzuki and you can really see her change over the course of film.

Direction wise, Tetsuya Matsushima definitely seemed to know what he was doing. He had a beautiful island to film the movie on and he took advantage of it. There are plenty of beautiful shots to be found on Ishigaki Island.

The Soundtrack was nothing to write home about but I guess it worked. It wasn't bad but it wasn't exciting or deep and powerful at the same time.

Overall, it is safe to say that if you like Japanese cinema and if you can sit through a slow film without ripping your hair out you should watch Island of Light. It provides a good story and a good 101 minutes of entertainment. It may even leave you in tears.