Rating: 
Summary: A POETIC ELEGY ON LIFE & DEATH.
Review: This film deserves ten stars not five. Mr. Kore-eda uses natural light, both in nocturnal and diurnal scenes. It is one of the most carefully and beautifully shot films I have ever seen. The lighting and photography in the interior scenes is incomparable and masterful. The scenario is restrained and the acting is absolutely first rate, restrained, understated, powerful -- exactly like the ocean, which functions as one of the symbolic characters in the film. What is the ocean but the unconsciousness of the working mind, the stillness sometimes, the violence sometimes, the tranquility sometimes, the wildness sometimes? In each moment there is a recognition of goodbye, and it may be the final goodbye, it may be the shock of someone leaving and never returning, no matter how much we love them, no matter how much we yearn for them. The loss of someone we treasure. Every element in this film: lighting, cinematography, music, acting, direction, scenario -- all works together as a forceful poem to remind us of the death in life, and the life in death. It is one of the most uplifting and spiritual films I have ever seen, yet it never once preaches about loss and the attempt to restructure a life after such an unendurable loss. There is no religion in this film, it is a film about the spiritual transcendence within ordinary life. This film is an absolutely elegant but deeply felt prayer to affirm the meaning of being alive. Everyone should see this film.
Rating: 
Summary: a beautifully subtle meditation on grief
Review: This film is full of beautiful imagery as a japanese island lays the backdrop for a woman to quietly come to terms with her husbands suicide. The movie seems at times to play out in real time which will enthrall some and exasperate others. Yet I feel that if someone has found the patience for subtitles they can dig a little deeper and muster the thoughtfulness necessary as the main character's grief process is painted in slow satisfying strokes.
Rating:
Summary: A top ten.
Review: This film is in my top ten. I first saw it in a theater, where the natural light, amazing use of simple landscape, and the day to day aesthetic of japanese life is best appreciated. One thing the film is about for me is the way beauty is temporary and permanent all at the same time. We can lose things (including human relations) of great beauty and still forget how we are surrounded by it always. The ocean figures in this film as one example of this idea. A perfect story of love, a slow meditation on life, a beautiful canvas of light and dark.
Rating:
Summary: powerful
Review: this film was incredibly powerful, though its charms could easily be lost on a western audience. it is a film of subtlety, poetry and naturalism. The story is told less through its minimalist dialogue than the stunningly beautiful patterns of life as depicted by the japanese landscape.
Rating:
Summary: vermeer wanders along the japanese seashore
Review: this is an amazing filmhaiku simple images framed long and slow like the esteemed dutch painter contemplating something darker than his typical subject few movies consider grief in such a profoundly and mysteriously moving way thankyou Hiokazu Kore-eda
Rating:
Summary: Very good movie
Review: This is an honest movie. To me, it's about dealing with tragedies in our lives. The story it tells is about trying to understand why things happen that are full of sadness. It shows it is difficult, if not impossible to "get over" terrible events in our lives. This may not be a good movie for those who have not endured loss of a loved one. It may require some experience with tragedy to appreciate the movie. How else can one be sensitive to another's suffering unless they have experienced the same or very similar pain and sorrow? Maybe this film is trying to do that, to invite everyone to "feel" what it is like to be really confused, lost, and frustrated about some events in our lives. I may be wrong, but the writer of this movie must know the characters very well, know what they're feeling, and have a sense of confusion about why we do certain things that are hard to explain. I appreciate this movie. It helps me to think about my own confusion and why I do the things I do in my life.
Rating:
Summary: An evocative, moving and strangely captivating film.
Review: This movie glides gently along, apace with the slow healing of a young widow's loss. With utterly minimal characterisation, the director still manages to capture vivid glimpses of Japan, both old and young. Most memorable is the beautiful and dramatic coastal scenery which is hauntingly powerful. At times, a heartbreakingly lonely film, it proceeds with its own calm logic, and the effect is quietly, yet deeply moving.
Rating: 
Summary: (mostly) Great movie, Bad Bad Bad transfer
Review: This movie is an all-time favorite of mine. I've seen it in the cinema close to ten times. The visual composition is extraordinary. Simple scenes like a bus coming into frame and around a corner--no plot, no action--are stunning and enthralling. The writing and acting are understated and powerful, finding the maximum expression with the minimum gesture. That said, the second half is too long. Even I get tired and have trouble keeping focus and this is supposed to be one of my favorites. References to Japanese culture may be slightly opaque, but actually it's really not hard to have some appreciation even without prior familiarity. For instance, a kettle on a flame in a household is a recurrent image. There may be some specific reference or message there, but I think it's sufficient to appreciate it as a sign of the warm interior of the household and the tea ready to serve to family or guests. Now, the reason for 3 stars only: The transfer is horrendous, abysmal, outrageous--this travesty demands retribution on whoever is responsible. Many reviewers refer to dark, indistinct images where characters can't even be recognized. The screen image is snowy throughout. Let me assure you that this never occurs in a decent print of the film, and to issue this transfer is a crime.
Rating:
Summary: Exquisite Portrayal of Japanese Culture
Review: This movie is the best I've seen that accurately captures the heart of Japanese psyche and its impact on culture that's so different than that of Americans. Each FRAME of this movie is a masterful "painting" that unites the mood of the character with that of the nature. I've rarely seen such (self-conscious) perfection in each frame as in this movie. I cannot give it five stars, because while this movie has a daring vision that builds power over time, it's difficult
for American audience to relate fully to what amounts to
a slide show, albeit an incredibly artistic one. Contrast this film with "Red Soghum", which is a virtuoso depiction of the true essence of the Chinese culture. For those who are fed up with the increasingly formulaic
excuse of a movie from Hollywood, try these two gems,
which actually require you to use your brain to analyze and comprehend.
Rating:
Summary: Lyrical, lovely, poetic
Review: While this film requires some patience (if action's your thing try Crouching Tiger) it more than rewards your attention; the consistent long shots might play better in a theater, however. After a grueling Wong Kar Wai retrospective where I despaired of mainstream straight white male critics ever being able to point me in the right direction I was overjoyed to find some solace in this gentle, slowly-unfolding, elegant little movie. What I loved about it was not so much its female-centeredness (which I appreciated) but its almost documentary-esque unveiling of her life in the day to day, revealed not with action but with the small details and environmental texture that make up and shade her response to her recent loss. If you require American-style moral certainty and a narrative arc you'll be disappointed. So many shots linger in my mind from this film but none so much as the long shot that ends the film in a breathtaking, minimalist coda.
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