Memories of Matsuko (2006)

I’m sorry if this review will not be coherent enough but I’m writing it right after watching this movie, so I’m still highly affected.

Let’s start with explaining why did I decide to watch this movie. Well, there are two main reasons: firstly, because Eita is in it and I always wanted to watch something with this guy and secondly, the poster – it intrigued me and reminded me of a movie Amelia; it also fooled me to think this will be a hilarious comedy. So I gave it a try.

Reasons why did I give it a 10:
1. It’s beautifully shot – every scene is like a work of art. Bright colors, intriguing details, breath-taking scenery… Even those moments when it is obvious that there are used some special effects (like the amusement park at the top of the building or prison walls,)they are not cheap like in many other movies I’ve seen, they just deepen the unreality of this world. I’m not an extreme aesthete and I don’t attach particular importance to those things, but in here the beauty of the movie was just overwhelming and couldn’t be overlooked.

2. It has amazing actors – although at first I thought Eita would have a bigger part in this movie, I wasn’t disappointed at all. He did a good job portraying a lost young man with no particular purpose in his life who tries to know more about his aunt he never met. As for our main heroine, Matsuko… well, Nakatani Miki did an awesome job portraying her. Her acting felt so real, that sometimes it was really painful to watch this movie – I was thinking while watching it that this woman was suffering so much, too much for such a fragile person, I could understand her pain and why she was making a mistake after a mistake, and all that thanks to this amazing actress who made this character alive and real.

3. Its story – there wouldn’t be so many praises from me if I didn’t find this story captivating and judging from my score you can guess that I found it as such. This movie showed in a very realistic way the life of Matsuko - from a child who was craving for her father’s attention to a miserable woman who was betrayed by all men she loved and who was sorry for being born. I’m a psychology student, so I’m always looking for reasons for one’s behavior and here I found perfect explanations for Matsuko’s self-destructing ways of acting. It wasn’t like some things were made just to amuse the viewer or just for a sake of making things more dramatic; it was more like a study of a person’s life, a very realistic study may I add. It left me crying many times (and I’m considered to be a cold-blooded person), because it made me see how easy it is to make yourself miserable and feel like there is no way out. And another advantage – even if this movie tells a heavy story, it is not extremely depressing, more like it's emotional and touching. It leaves you with warm feelings and wet eyes.

To sum it all up, I cannot praise this movie enough, I gave it a 10 without hesitation. If you’d like to take a break from overly dramatic, clichéd movies, try this one – I'm sure you won’t regret watching it.

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(temporary review by bokami)

whats in it?

1. best tragidramedy japanese movie that seen by bokami
2. this isnt a romcom but it looks like it
3. musical? (yes, but the musical scene is just for the

protagonist psychological POV)..hmm metaphor?

5. its long but very fast pacing...and no scene was boring from

5mins onward to end
6. it have a yum yum puzzling story and once you combine

it...you will get an emotinal overflow

7. only ironman will not like this

8. the storytelling is nonlinear so confusion will rise if your a

fan of clche and straightforward spoonfeed kind of plots

9. Eyecandy cinematoraphy,,,,,is uber in this

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