SYNOPSICS
Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006) is a Japanese,English movie. Tetsuya Nakashima has directed this movie. Miki Nakatani,Eita Nagayama,Yûsuke Iseya,Mikako Ichikawa are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2006. Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006) is considered one of the best Comedy,Drama,Musical,Mystery movie in India and around the world.
Shou's father Norio finds his son in a rather meaningless existence in Tokyo dominated by alcohol and porn videos. Having left home two years earlier to pursue life as a musician, Shou has left his band and his girlfriend has left him. His father asks a favor, that Shou clean out the apartment of his aunt Matsuko, who he says led a meaningless life until her murder at the age of 53. The apartment is filled with garbage bags and is even more unkempt than his apartment has become, and he becomes intrigued with his aunt as details of her life are supplied by a tattooed neighbor and others. Her feelings of neglect by her father Tsunehiro, who favored her chronically ill younger sister, Kumi, translated into becoming a dutiful junior high school teacher devoted to her students until being forced to resign after being blamed for the theft of some money by one of them. Leaving her family due to the disgrace, she had a series of affairs with lovers who physically abused her and did a stint as...
More
Kiraware Matsuko no isshô (2006) Reviews
Devastating
This film will just blow you away! While I would say it was fairly sad at times, and you'll shake your head at the life choices the lead character made, the film will stay with you. It definitely has tearjerker moments, major ones. The acting is uniformly superb. I originally knew about the film through this site, because I am very impressed with the acting of Asuka Kurosawa ("A Snake Of June") and wanted to see her in a film in which you actually see her in her beauty (She boldly works in horror films, sometimes with distorted features, like "Kirie" and "Dead Waves"). She looks gorgeous in this film, but so does the title character. Like many films with a female name in them (think Leslie Caron, Audrey Hepburn), you'll fall in love, commiserate, get angry with and, ultimately, forgive her flaws. Is it perfect? No, it isn't. The rating of 10 stars has to do with the effect it had on me. It'll just stay with you. Thank goodness this wasn't an American film, it would have been sanitized and "fairy taled" to the point of manifesting ad nauseum. Its sad, you might cry, but you'll love it.
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.
Impressive tragicomedy
It is a real tragicomedy! This film is about cruel facts, but under a musical comedy appearance. It is a movie that made me cry, as if I still were 15 years old. And I cried because what is told in the film can happen... And unfortunately it actually happens everywhere and everyday. It is a film that has made me believe again in the Japanese cinema. In this movie I have seen a Kenji Mizoguchi's spirit revival, because of the way it describes the life of a woman who is mistreated by everybody and whose life is irremediably ruined. Doesn't this story remember Mizoguchi's "Oyu-sama"? I also saw some Akira Kurosawa's influences, like the colorful shanty dwelling Matsuko lives in during the last years of her sad existence: aren't they close to the ones Kurosawa showed in "Dodeskaden"? According to my point of view, this is the best Japanese film of this still young 21st century.
A great tragedy with a charming comical outlook
The movie is really wonderful and joyful. The package is really wonderful. As the female lives from 50's up to now, director of this film manage to dissolve a lot of pop culture stuffs, like MTV, TV etc into a fancy comical world. I am sure there would be only Japanese who can create such world. But what i admire most is he do not forget the story he want to tell. The story actually is a adaption from a original novel which depict a tragic life of a woman. The film, though have a comedy outlook, it is a typical tragic story. The director manages to find a new way to retell the story in a sense which youngster would feel related. And the story itself is great because it tells us what is so called life. ie ridiculous, unpredictable, etc. and how a woman face her life with constant hope of simply getting better. The story is a typical tragedy in a Greek kind of style. Though it may contain some preaching scene, but u are free to take it or leave, as the life of the woman is open to judge.
Sad and surreal
This movie is unique and innovative. It is somewhat of fairytale like Cinderella and reminds me of Big Fish (2003), but is also very dark and depressive like say Requiem for a Dream (2000). It follows the hardship-laden life of Matsuko through the gradual discoveries of her nephew and the people he encounters. It is extreme in content and in appearance, but touches very true and deep feelings & fears within all of us. It explores the meaning of life and asks very interesting questions. It does so while treating life's inevitable tragedies with humour and gaiety. The visual style and music are important elements of the movie as they share a positive-looking outlook of life even in the dimmest of circumstances. The drama is centered around the dysfunctional family Matsuko was both the product of and the most disruptive element in its spiral towards destruction. Friendship, love and professional lives are also well explored, although as you can imagine, none of them in an ideal, truly rewarding way. The bleakness of the story and the brightness of the storytelling makes for a very interesting contrast. There are many beautiful shots (even if a bit CGI-heavy) and the inherent beauty of life is revealed through the crust of old, piled up garbage. The storytelling is very fresh and even though it sags at some points as the film never seems to end, it does get its point across in a artsy and non-threatening way. I was so involved with the demanding story that I was literally shocked as I exited the dark theater to see other people lined up for the next movie at the FantAsia festival. After a viewing experience like this, I found myself surprised that there could be more movies after that or, possibly, that there may be anything after that! This is how profoundly I was affected. "Memories" is not a movie you just eat up and leave, you really need to settle and digest before you can truly understand and internalize. A tough journey, a good message and possibly a lot of positive ramifications in art & life. Recommended.