Hush!

Rating:
Summary: Hush!
Review: It surprised me actually that I liked this film as much as I did. It seems a bit long, but nothing unbearable. Interesting, evocative and occasionally amusing: all a round it's a very good movie. It's actually quite similar to Ang Lee's The Wedding Banquet (also very good), except Japan is the setting here and Hush! is also a bit darker (as most Japanese films are).

The story mainly revolves around three characters: Katsuhiro, a gay man quietly living and working in a predominately straight world; Asako, a solemn & tattered women working as a lab tech. in a dental office; and Naoya, Katsuhiro's eventual lover who's far more out and about with his life, and a fond lover of animals. While sitting by herself in a local restaurant, Asako eavesdrops on part of the conversation between Katsuhiro and Naoya, who were also eating there. They were talking about being (not so) openly gay and their (mostly Katsuhiro's) feelings about fatherhood. As Asako begins to leave the restaurant she finds that someone has stolen her umbrella (and it's raining rather hard outside). Being ignored by management, she eventually leaves angered and upset. Katsuhiro, who noticed the whole ordeal, gives her his company umbrella as he and Naoya leave the restaurant behind her. Asako ultimately tracks down Katsuhiro at his job to return the umbrella that he had given to her. The two start to converse and she eventually asks him if he would father a child with her (through artificial insemination). After some time he agrees. The obvious struggles then begin with Naoya taken aback on the whole idea at first, but other complications also keep the film very interesting: such as a female co-worker of Katsuhiro who grows insatiably obsessed with him; Naoya's charismatic and outspoken mother; and Katsuhiro's sister-in-law who disdainfully censures Asako after delving into her past... Assortments of other things also keep away any tediousness as well.

Personally, I thought the film was great; but if you're homophobic or have a low-attention span, then this film may not be for you. If you're open-minded and like semi-sentimental stories, then this one's an excellent choice :).

Rating:
Summary: Warning: Drink a Lot of Caffiene Before Watching
Review: The 2001 Japanese film "Hush!", directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi, is a slow and not particularly interesting film about a recently-involved gay couple that meet a single woman who wants to have a child. The woman, Asako Fujikura (Reiko Kataoka), lives alone, works as a dental technician and tends to be a bit promiscuous and depressed. While eating in a restaurant, she overhears a conversation between the gay couple Naoya Hase (Kazuya Takahashi) and Katsuhiro Kurita (Seiichi Tanabe). Naoya works in a pet store and is rather open about himself, but Katsuhiro works in a lab and does not want any of his coworkers or anyone else to know that he is gay. After visiting a doctor and recommending surgery for a female problem, Asako tracks down Katsuhiro at his job to return an umbrella to him (that he had previously given to her outside of the restaurant) and to ask him whether he would be willing to father a child for her. It is around this same time that one of Katsuhiro's female coworkers becomes obsessed him.

This film literally put me to sleep after about an hour and I had no further interest in watching it through to the end as it is extremely slow and the characters are uninspiring. Granted, the cinematography is very good, Reiko Kataoka won two Japanese film awards and Seiichi Tanabe won one Japanese film award; but the film simply fails to be sufficiently interesting to watch its entire 135 minutes. Consequently, I can only rate "Hush!" with 2 out of 5 stars for its boredom. Some people clearly do enjoy this film, but I am not one of them. Other characters in this film include Asako's father (Minori Terada), Naoya's mother (Manami Fuji), Katsuhiro's brother Shoji (Ken Mitsuishi), Emi Nagata (Tsugumi) and the gynecologist (Ryo Iwamatsu).