alex-1886
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
17 years
Reviews
Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006)
Funny, Sad and Beautiful
I'm giving this one a spoiler alert because if you don't know the story line and can't speak Japanese, you may be very surprised by this movie, particularly if you've seen the director's previous work "Shimotsuma Monogatari". So don't read too much further if you'd rather be surprised.
I went to see this movie in Tokyo (Roppongi Hills Cinema) with a Japanese friend on my birthday. I had seen Shimotsuma Monogatari both in Japanese and with English subtitles and enjoyed it immensely. I didn't know anything at all about Kiraware Matsuko no Issho except that it was by the same director but agreed to go see it based on my expectation that it would be similarly colorful, charming and full of fun unexpected bits. In this I was not disappointed.
The movie tells the story of Matsuko, the mysterious and recently deceased occupant of a rather shabby apartment which is to be cleaned by a young man, through whose eyes we see the movie. This young man is tasked by his father to clean an apartment and as he begins to discover the personal effects of the now dead occupant, he becomes entangled in an effort to piece together the details of her complex and sordid life.
If you've seen the movie Amelie, you might recognize some influences from it in this movie. The director favors saturated colors, time-shifting and the occasional surreal mixing of the literal world with the metaphorical or symbolic. I personally enjoyed these storytelling devices as well as the pacing and almost "Memento" like revelation of the character of Matsuko and her relationships with the other characters in the movie.
The reason I checked the spoiler box on this comment was because I went to the movie expecting something light and fun with an uplifting ending like Shimotsuma Monogatari but was shocked to discover how incredibly sad and depressing this movie turned out to be. While the visual language and storytelling devices were very colorful and fun, the actual story of Matsuko's life is a tragedy of epic proportions, a modern day tribulation both frightening in its graphic portrayal and disturbing in its plausibility.
It's a story of the excesses of achieving success, the futility of searching for stability and the emptiness of hoping for happiness. Matsuko is not so much a character as a symbolic punching bag representing the state of modern Japanese femininity. Watching this movie broke my heart and I (a 38 year old man) cried for two days following it.
If you're going to see this movie (and I recommend you do), be prepared to be moved by it. You won't need to understand Japanese to get what's happening (though you might miss a few of the jokes here and there) so don't let the language prevent you from experiencing the most depressing comedy you're likely to ever see.
I went to see this movie in Tokyo (Roppongi Hills Cinema) with a Japanese friend on my birthday. I had seen Shimotsuma Monogatari both in Japanese and with English subtitles and enjoyed it immensely. I didn't know anything at all about Kiraware Matsuko no Issho except that it was by the same director but agreed to go see it based on my expectation that it would be similarly colorful, charming and full of fun unexpected bits. In this I was not disappointed.
The movie tells the story of Matsuko, the mysterious and recently deceased occupant of a rather shabby apartment which is to be cleaned by a young man, through whose eyes we see the movie. This young man is tasked by his father to clean an apartment and as he begins to discover the personal effects of the now dead occupant, he becomes entangled in an effort to piece together the details of her complex and sordid life.
If you've seen the movie Amelie, you might recognize some influences from it in this movie. The director favors saturated colors, time-shifting and the occasional surreal mixing of the literal world with the metaphorical or symbolic. I personally enjoyed these storytelling devices as well as the pacing and almost "Memento" like revelation of the character of Matsuko and her relationships with the other characters in the movie.
The reason I checked the spoiler box on this comment was because I went to the movie expecting something light and fun with an uplifting ending like Shimotsuma Monogatari but was shocked to discover how incredibly sad and depressing this movie turned out to be. While the visual language and storytelling devices were very colorful and fun, the actual story of Matsuko's life is a tragedy of epic proportions, a modern day tribulation both frightening in its graphic portrayal and disturbing in its plausibility.
It's a story of the excesses of achieving success, the futility of searching for stability and the emptiness of hoping for happiness. Matsuko is not so much a character as a symbolic punching bag representing the state of modern Japanese femininity. Watching this movie broke my heart and I (a 38 year old man) cried for two days following it.
If you're going to see this movie (and I recommend you do), be prepared to be moved by it. You won't need to understand Japanese to get what's happening (though you might miss a few of the jokes here and there) so don't let the language prevent you from experiencing the most depressing comedy you're likely to ever see.