Reviews

"I want to start over"

Tokyo Twilight is a film about a disintegrating family and the darkest film I've seen by Director Ozu. The darkest and the most difficult for me to come to grips with. This last of his films in black and white was gorgeous to look at, one of his most aesthetic in regards to framing and composition. But I come back to the subject matter. Do I rate and view it as the audience it was intended for? Or do I rate it as a 21st century woman who was appalled by aspects of the story? I ended up splitting the difference.

Takako and her young daughter have moved back in with her father, Sugiyama Shukichi, though he doesn't know she's seeing it as a permanent situation. After pulling the information out of her, she confirms what he's been hearing. That the good Professor Numata she's married to has been drinking heavily. He is also abusive to Takako, but especially her daughter when things have not gone his way at work. Numata's admitted to having no paternal love toward his child.

Akima is the younger sister. She's carrying a secret within her and desperately trying to find her college boyfriend who put it there. With no mother to confide in and not close enough to her sister to share, she bears the burden alone. She stays out late at night and because of this is repeatedly described by men as decadent and wild. Waiting at a café where her boyfriend, Kenji, told he'd meet her she is taken to a police station by a police officer because she shouldn't be out late alone. The place was a known hook up joint for prostitutes, and with Kenji never showing up, it looked like a cruel joke was played on her. Ultimately, she decides to rid herself of her secret since her boyfriend has mostly rid himself of her. Later her aunt tries to play matchmaker, with Akima crying forlornly that she will never marry or have a child.

Shukichi is proper and polite to everyone but also an authoritarian father. He's ready to cut Akima off because he found out she'd been taken to the police station but Takako steps in and soothes his anger. Years earlier Takako would have married someone she'd cared for if Shukichi hadn't insisted she marry Numata instead. His word is the law in their household.

If all this wasn't enough drama, the missing mother shows up in a mahjong parlor Akima and Kenji's friends frequent. No secret stays buried and soon the daughters find out she's back and why she left. Akima fears she has her mother's bad blood and will never be happy or that she was illegitimate. Takako cannot forgive her mother for abandoning them and holds her responsible for Akima's problems. The mother was an enigma, she wanted to reconnect with her daughters but when she found out that her son had died several years earlier, she did so without so much as batting an eye.

Takako and Akima both wish to start over and find happiness. In the end, neither do. Akima suffers a horrible narrative fate to punish her for becoming too modern and breaking familial tradition and traditional female roles. Takako fears her daughter will end up like Akima if she doesn't have both parents raising her and decides to return to her husband. When she informs Shukichi he nods his head and says she'll be successful this time if she tries. Takako looks like a woman heading to the guillotine, painfully aware happiness is not in hers or her daughter's future. After Takako moves out the maid helps Shukichi get ready for work, the birds are singing, the sun is shining and the swelling music tells you this is a happy ending. Maybe for Shukichi it is, but not for his children. Somehow this father remains blithely unaware of his unhappy role in the dissolution of his marriage and the sorrows of his children.

As I mentioned, the framing and shots were among some of my favorite. Ozu's use of light and shadow relegated some scenes to true artwork. Mostly, the score was pleasant enough though the music's bright tone during a tragic time seemed out of place. Ryu, an Ozu regular, did well as the quiet authoritarian father. While this may have been my favorite Hara Setsuko performance thus far, she showed a variety of emotions instead of smiling most of the time, it was distracting knowing that she was only 3 years younger than her "mother" in real life. Arima Ineko was called upon to show a complex array of emotions as she dealt with her family, her irresponsible and selfish boyfriend, and sitting alone making decisions beyond her years and succeeded. The acting though often subdued as it is in Ozu's films felt more thoroughly rounded than usual. All of the characters felt like real people. Ozu's insistence on some characters staring directly into the camera while saying their lines is still a detracting custom for me.

The whole thrust of this story came down to the idea that the family was destroyed because the mother found love while the husband was stationed in Seoul and left upon his return. The daughters didn't have a proper female presence which ended up corrupting Akima. A father's love could not make up for that, even though Takako did not go off the rails. Akima had sexual relations with the boy she loved and was punished in every way for it while he escaped with no repercussions. If the doors of propriety could have been cracked opened for real communication, she might have been able to talk with her father or sister to seek support and help her make the decisions she needed to make. Takada was chained to a man who didn't love her or their child and was abusive. She returned to him because it was the "right" thing to do. And her father simply smiled benignly instead of seeing the fear in his daughter's eyes and supporting her. I know Ozu had a father who was often gone, working in another city, but somehow he missed how a vicious drunk and emotionally vacant father can scar a child forever even more so than an absent one.

This was not a story of reconciliation or redemption, but of punishment and retribution all tied up in a polite, proper bow. Each of the female characters were left in pain and an uncertain future with no chance to start over. The men all went about their happy way. I can usually either follow Ozu's train of thought or make excuses for him, but not this time. Even though his viewpoint was a common one in the 1950's, I was appalled at his treatment of women in the name of tradition and family unity.

2/20/23

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was sure the reason for the negative comments, that this wasn't action packed. sadly this turned out to be a waste of time, as the plot (the summation) is whack. i don't think this is boring, but it is a frustrating watch.
this a drama more then an action flick. n reading the description u get the main picture/plot. But Doo Hyeon isn't an innocent man, he might not have murdered his n Yeong Min's boss. but he got blood on his hands. so whatever the reason he chose to keep quite - he not innocent.
like IMHO Yeong Min isn't that much of a bad-guy (not any worse then Doo Hyeon) he a gangster that wants to be boss, of course he gonna go around killing, robbing etc..(whatever gangster's do). the fact he got a spoilt brat isn't shocking either, when this movie starts we see him rushing baby Eun Joo to the emergence room cause of heart problems. that also explains his following the Big-bosses orders to kill "the Goblin's master" or his then murdering the Big-boss (he desperate, n having a kid with heart problems costs money). that make him extra bad?!? same with pampering the sick child n turning her into a bully (u could blame him), but it's also very understandable.

on the other hand, i didn't get Ji Yeong (Doo Hyeon wife/ex) pretty sure he didn't hide the fact he a gangster, so why the act after she had Ye Na?!? why throw a tantrum n make him feel like sh*t. as if leaving the mob is so easy, no logic. (btw her leaving after he got convicted was logical, not cause of the set-up, but cause of how murder's families r treated in Asian countries).

this was fine until that end, liked the irony of fate pushing these 2 guys at each other, even when they chose different paths. yeah it wasn't all smooth sailing n could find plothole's throughout, but on a whole i was totally enjoying how this was unfolding, until that end where Doo Hyeon turned moronic; him asking Yeong Min if he did anything to his daughter (after he got ahold of Eun Joo), and i'm like ￣へ￣he already has endangered ur daughter, she's just out of freakin brain surgery. she in a coma and was moved by thugs ( ˘︹˘ ) her chances of waking up, went down - no?!? n u still wondering if "anything was done to her"?!? like make it make sense¯\(°_o)/¯Aish (ノω<。)ノ
then his not stabbing Yeong Min at the end, but begging to know where his daughter was. the frustration (╬▔皿▔)╯ really wanted Doo Hyeon death at that point (as he knew she was in that location). that whole scene was stoopid n it didn't get any better. the cherry on top, showing the scene of Doo Hyeon helping an injured Yeong Min from the start of the movie. what the frack was that meant to symbolize? don't care, as it really just annoyed me ＞﹏＜ n was really looking forward to seeing Jo Dong Hyuk, so not recommended✌

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Highly recommended - very enjoyable

Beautifully executed cinematography. Anybody who likes movie as a form of art would really enjoy watching Hidden Blade.

Watching this movie is like playing a puzzle. The first hour of the movie contends many 3-5 minutes scenes that were not presented in the order of time so it can be confusing to start with. But wait, everything started to make sense and all came together in the second hour and became super fun to watch. The fighting scenes are amazingly done - very realistic and shot with perfect pace and lightings. Best fight scenes I have seen in years.

The cast is the best. Tony Leung and Zhou Xun, both have won numerous awards globally, are as excellent as always. However, the core of the story lies on Mr. Ye, played by Wang Yibo. Yibo did a fantastic job playing with audiences’ feelings by switching from cruelty to innocence, submissiveness to domination, and his performance carried a very complicated role throughout the whole movie. I am impressed.

Definitely will recommend this movie to everyone. This is THE movie you go to theaters to watch. Don’t miss the chance to watch it in the theaters.

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Repetitive

This was basically the first part but from the other guys perspective a slightly confusing time line and an added scene at or two at the ending. It is still basically two guys flirting but with more words but dare I say it less good acting but also less slow mo feel to it.

I think Film was better as a quiet guy... a shy guy the kind of guy who is mysterious and son on...

So basically after watching the second part I feel like lowering the score of the first part, however I won't and I will probably go watch the behind the scenes too...

But to be honest I have no clue why I am doing this, like at all....

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Whatever cautionary tale it tries to present, you cannot focus on that aspect - you keep getting distracted with how dumb the characters are. Not to mention, the lack of realism completely ruined the poor attempt of “social commentary”.

Female lead was dumb, the police were dumb, the friend was dumb, even the villain was dumb - don’t let people fool you into thinking it’s some tight cat and mouse chase with a brilliant killer who outsmarts everyone. It’s not hard to outsmart idiots. It does not make him a genius.

What’s good? Acting and editing, some directing choices. I liked the shots presenting the world from the eyes of the phone user, and then from the angle of the camera. We never really think about how much our phones see, as we assume the camera is off. So it’s creepy to see how much one could spy on us, if they had the access to the camera itself. Overall, there were many pretty shots, they knew how to make it visually interesting.

As a side note about the “social commentary” - I am so tired of this “phones are dangerous, be careful how you use them” topics. How about showing what the true issue is: lack of laws and procedures when the cyber crime happens, lack of police involvement when the crime is being reported, worst case - ignoring the reported crime because “nothing can be done”. Criticizing the government and police for the lack of protection of the citizens should be the focus, not “people use phones in irresponsible ways and depend on them too much”.

Overall, what a waste of time, even for Im Si Wan fans.

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Good but could be better.

6/10

Negative

1. The implementation wasn´t very good.
2. That Rio has reinstated his old role. (accident)
3. That he could not express his feelings to Haruhiko.
4. Too few kisses
5. The Music during the lovescenes were not fitting.


Positive

1. The Maincouple
2. Acting (especially the Kissing and Lovescene). It was excellent. i don't even want to know how hard that was.
3. That the two became a couple towards the end.
4. Finally few Lovescenes. I have been desperately waiting for this (already in the series). The Lovescenes was excellent from the Quality and the duration. Iam Very satisfied.
5. The duration of the kisses. I loved it. They killed me right away. Lol

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This film is a boon

The film is light and entertaining. It helps you explore the various themes with consideration.
All things that I am sure others have also written in their reviews and which I will not repeat here. However, I would like to dwell on Hye Mi and her date gone wrong.
A lot of men on dating apps portray themselves as a dominant, when they don't understand what that means. What it usually means is that they want to do you like they don't care about you and they probably want to hurt you, because they are working out some repressed rage. But being a Dom is mostly about leadership, guidance and LEARNING... helping someone to get to where they want to go whether it's physical or mental.
And so the type of people that you see out on the dating apps or an FL that claim to be a Dom but are inexperienced at it, it's generally easy to identify them very early on. Are some better than others at hiding? Sure but this is why we vet.

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A movie about treasuring each day no matter what.

I hope I'm not too biased in writing this review just because I'm a fan of Micchi (Michieda Shunsuke) but I just think that this movie is really good. Even just from watching the trailer, it has greatly piqued my interest. At first, the plot reminded me of the series One Week Friends, where the girl also had amnesia, except her memories reset each week instead.

**SPOILERS**
The start of the movie greatly hints on what eventually happens later in the movie, which is something that I didn't really like but I guess that's what made me want to continue watching it even more. And with how Toru and Maori's relationship started, you'd think it's a typical "fake dating" trope, but in my opinion, it wasn't, their chemistry didn't feel forced and it really looked like they enjoyed each other's company. It was painful still, because for Maori, she was meeting this stranger for the first time everyday and she always had to put up a front. The part that I really liked was from the point when Toru found out about her illness, because at this point, Toru had actually fallen in love with Maori and despite knowing that she forgets him everyday, he was determined to make her everyday fun. One of my favorite lines in this movie was when Toru was talking to his sister about Maori, when he said "When there are fun things written in her diary, it would be nice if when she reads it, she'd be able to look forward to everyday, even if just for a bit.", my heart hurt a bit when I heard him say that but at the same time, I felt so much respect for this character.

I think all the characters in this movie was well-written, I also liked Maori's friend, Izumi, who is always there to help her no matter what, and she also eventually supported Toru and Maori's relationship so much. She was truly one of the important characters in the movie as she also played an important role towards the end of the film. Although one thing that I didn't quite understand was the relationship between Toru and his family, but I do think that showing this was necessary especially for the ending of the movie.

Overall, I recommend this movie if you just wanna cry and feel all kinds of emotions. I will not forget the dread I felt when I finished watching this, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It made me think "Ah, this is why this movie was so popular". At first, everything would seem slow but it will just hit you like a truck towards the end so I think it's a movie worth watching lol it will make you think about a lot of things in life.

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It was Good but too short.

4/10

WHAT THE ....heck was this kiss O_O ??????? I have never seen in any series that they kissed so passionately, wildly...... and for so long.......why didn't the two already kiss in the series? I think it's a shame that they didn't sleep together. Unfortunately, this is far too short for a Movie - why only 12 minutes? I would have liked to see more. :-OOOOOO
They killed me with that kiss. OMG Lol.


Negative

1. Movie was too short
2. No Lovescene. Very disappointed


Positive

1. The Kiss was the best of this Movie. I could watch this every day. It never gets boring. Very believable.
2. The Maincouple
3. Acting

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Interesting fact-ion sageuk

"The Night Owl" is one of the best fact-ion (facts+fiction) sageuk I have seen so far. Using In Jo's infamous reign and Crown Prince So Hyeon's death as part of the plot, it develops an original story around an atypical character.
I like historical movies that stick to the facts as much as possible very much, but I also like a well made fiction based on historical events when it is cleverly made, just like this movie. I don't think it's a thriller though, only a good sageuk with some thrills. I'm not usually keen for humour in sageuk, but the few little scenes in this movie were actually good and well made.
The cast is very good and all the actors are really good in their respective roles. Actors like Yoo Hae Jin, Jo Sung Ha and Choi Moo Sung, as usual, never disappoint, and Ryu Joon Yeol is excellent as Kyung Soo, and special mention for Kim Sung Cheol too that is really good in this role too.
The music isn't very special or grandiose, but it's good, and the aesthetic of the movie quite beautiful with an overall production very well made so I give it a pretty high ratings.

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You know what? This is a complete tearjerker in the end but I'm here for it. This story is a cute 2h movie about nostalgia in the 90s, young high school love and friendships. It's a recipe for a good movie night, especially when you're caught up with work daily and you just want to watch something light, cute and aesthetic. Light, however, it very much was for like half of the movie. I felt that the characters had really good development and had a lot of chemistry altogether. The director chose a difficult route of giving us this ending, but I guess it still leaves the watchers satisfied. No doubt did this movie leave a big trace in me, and will most likely keep me dwelling. Would definitely watch this again because it was absolutely beautiful!

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Not an average "sickness plot" movie!

This movie is outstanding. I didn't expect it to be this good. I thought it will be just those average Japanese movie where the female lead sick and stuff.. maybe this will be like Ishuukan Friends, as their main plot are Amnesia.

BUT IT IS NOT

Before I talk about the plot, let's talk about other things.
Don't worry I won't spoil anything especially the plot because it's more enjoyable when you know nothing. You're welcome.


This movie is aesthetically pleasing. Every scene is beautiful. The soft colours and how the sun shine through, it's really fit the concept and story.
The music is really good, but nothing special in my opinion.
The cast is perfect, especially the trio. They reprised the role perfectly. I don't think I should talk about both main leads, they did perfectly, a really cute couple. But I don't expect much from Izumi-chan yet she "stole" the show. Finally someone do justice to the couple's friend lol
I cried twice and one of them was because Izumi-chan's scene.

Now the plot, this is what makes this movie is not an average Japanese movie with sick lead.
The plot dynamic is perfect. Not boring at all despite it's slow pace. I love how it's actually a flashback, and being told simultaneously between Maori, Izumi, and Tooru. I also love how this movie bring up Tooru's family problem in a very neat way. This movie catch me off guards with the plot twist, it has been a long time since I cried because a movie! I just cried twice lol
Comparing with the trailer, I really love that it doesn't give any spoiler and no one would know what's coming. The 3 rules of Tooru and Maori relationship mentioned but finally explained at the end of the movie.
The explanation about memories and the system is really make sense too, I'm not an expert but it's not cliché and not romanticized the problem here. This is really matter when a movie, drama, or whatever it is took a plot about any kind of sickness.
As expected from a novel adaptated movie.

Now I'm not surprised with the fact about how successfull this movie even in South Korea.
So proud of my baby Micchie! (Yes, I actually watch it because of him)

Lastly, I hope Netflix could pick this movie for their platform! This movie fit Netflix style... and of course I would like to let everyone in this world enjoy this movie and know that Japanese movie is really good lol

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The Post-Truth Review

FOR anyone who is a FAN OF SUSPENSE and has an eye for incredible cinematography, this movie is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Not a usual ending. "The Post-Truth World" is one of the best suspense movies I have watched in terms of production and screenwriting. I was hooked by the incredible shots that were taken and I wish I knew more about the production crew - I´d love to see more works of the same cinematographer - and it felt a bit like they were partly inspired by suspense Korean productions. The choice of music was more than pleasing and had me hooked even more on this tragic and unpredictable unfolding of events.

STORY / PLOT 7.5 >> 8.0
Honestly, there is nothing about this story that is boring to me. It was indeed quite unpredictable. During this review, I have actually come to terms to rate it higher because of this aspect of unpredictability. However, even though implemented well, some parts were a bit confusing. All in all, I think it contains great plot twists and the movie has a unique ending. Quite unconventional and it leaves you dumbfounded. Lovely.

ACTING / CAST 9.0
I have almost nothing to criticize here, rather I want to undermine the fact that Edward Chen and Joseph Chang deserve more popularity here on MDL as well as in the film industry. Their chemistry was dynamic and full of tension. They played the biggest part in delivering a nail-biting plot. Edward Chen´s performance was quite superb actually, he delivered all the pain and agony and left an impression on me. I also hope to see more of Caitlin Fang in the future, she´s got some skills and talent in acting.

OVERALL 7.5 >> 8.0
Again, there is no reason not to watch it. It is definitely anything but a waste of time if you´re fond of the suspense genre. Just rewatching something of which I already know the outcome is rarely on my To-Do List so I had to be a little realistic here. However, the chance I might rewatch "The Post-Truth World" in the future is not 0.

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About Kaleb and David

I didn't find this "Secret" as great as the one rave review here on MDL and the many comments on YT. Wide-faced Kaleb and David were trying, but everything felt stilted, fast. It's as if the creators said ... well, now we'll make a short that will impress everyone. It did not move me precisely because of its speed, simplicity and purposefulness. I was only surprised by a slightly above-average Pinoy movie with quite pleasant music.
I didn't find this "Secret" as great as the one rave review here on MDL and the many comments on YT. Wide-faced Kaleb and David were trying, but everything felt stilted, fast. It's as if the creators said ... well, now we'll make a short that will impress everyone. It did not move me precisely because of its speed, simplicity and purposefulness. I was only surprised by a slightly above-average Pinoy movie with quite pleasant music.

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