Maborosi

Maborosi
Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda
Produced by Naoe Gozu
Written by Teru Miyamoto
Starring Makiko Esumi
Tadanobu Asano
Akira Emoto
Sayaka Yoshino
Music by Ming-Chang Chen
Cinematography Masao Nakabori
Edited by Tomoyo Oshima
Distributed by Milestone Films
Release date
Running time
 109 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Maborosi, known in Japan as Maboroshi no Hikari (Japanese: 幻の光, literally "phantasmic light", but best translated as 'a trick of the light'), is a 1995 Japanese drama film by director Hirokazu Kore-eda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Naito. It is based on a novel by Teru Miyamoto.

The film won a Golden Osella Award for Best Director at the 1995 Venice Film Festival.

Plot

Yumiko (Esumi) and Ikuo (Asano) are a young Osaka couple who have a new baby. One day Ikuo is walking along the tracks and is hit by a train. It seems like he may have done this deliberately yet there is no apparent motive. A few years pass. Yumiko agrees to an arranged marriage with a widower, Tamio (Naitō), and she and Yuichi (her son, now played by Gohki Kashima) move to Tamio's house in a rustic village on the Sea of Japan coast, shot on location in Wajima, on the Noto Peninsula (the actual location where the film was shot is Uniumachi about 5 km west from Wajima along the coast, map location: 37°24′01″N 136°51′08″E / 37.400260°N 136.852101°E / 37.400260; 136.852101).

A drunken spat over a bell Yumiko had given Ikuo just before he died causes Yumiko and Tamio to discuss their strong emotions for their lost loves. Shortly after, Yumiko follows a funeral procession and lingers at the crematorium, until Tamio arrives by car to pick her up, at which point she says she just wants to know why Ikuo killed himself. Tamio suggests that, like the will o' the wisps his father used to see, perhaps something just drew him away from life.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Maborosi has a rating of 100%, based on 16 reviews, with an average score of 8.1/10.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Maboroshi no hikari (Maborosi) (Illusion) (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 18 November 2017.

Bibliography

  • Guthmann, Edward (29 November 1996). "FILM REVIEW -- The Delicate House of `Maborosi': Japanese film a lovely meditation on meaning of life". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  • Thomas, Kevin (26 October 1996). "Maborosi: 'Maborosi' Takes Powerful Journey of Spirit". The Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  • Thompson, Nathaniel (2006) [2002]. DVD Delirium: The International Guide to Weird and Wonderful Films on DVD; Volume 1 Redux. Godalming, England: FAB Press. pp. 453–454. ISBN 1-903254-39-6.
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