Yeah yeah yeah - it's all very touching. I gave this film 7 out of 10 for the photography, music and acting, but I found it extremely irritating so I might downgrade it to a 6.
I really don't understand why the utility companies weren't sending debt collectors round to recover what they were owed. And I couldn't believe the namby-pamby "landlord" with her dog, who just seemed to accept that she wouldn't be paid any rent for the flat. And how many people came into contact with these scruffy street urchins and didn't do anything to inform the authorities that they weren't in school; that their mother wasn't around; and that they looked like they needed help! I'm completely exasperated by the baseball teacher who didn't ask why Akira wasn't at school (what exactly *was* Akira's answer when asked what grade he was in?) and by Saki, the schoolgirl, who seemed to find them fascinating and amusing despite them being on the breadline and as scruffy as spit. Didn't her parents wonder where she'd got to when she spent her time with Akira and company instead of at school? And when she and Akira took Yuki's body to the airport to bury, didn't her parents want to know where she'd gone overnight? And surely even a child of twelve knows to call for an ambulance when his sister has an accident?
Oh - and I thought it would never end! In the end, it didn't end in any satisfactory way at all. If this is an example of Japan's level of social responsibility, then I'm both astonished and disappointed that a civilised society can exclude four helpless children in this way.
That's it - I'm reducing my vote to a 6.
I really don't understand why the utility companies weren't sending debt collectors round to recover what they were owed. And I couldn't believe the namby-pamby "landlord" with her dog, who just seemed to accept that she wouldn't be paid any rent for the flat. And how many people came into contact with these scruffy street urchins and didn't do anything to inform the authorities that they weren't in school; that their mother wasn't around; and that they looked like they needed help! I'm completely exasperated by the baseball teacher who didn't ask why Akira wasn't at school (what exactly *was* Akira's answer when asked what grade he was in?) and by Saki, the schoolgirl, who seemed to find them fascinating and amusing despite them being on the breadline and as scruffy as spit. Didn't her parents wonder where she'd got to when she spent her time with Akira and company instead of at school? And when she and Akira took Yuki's body to the airport to bury, didn't her parents want to know where she'd gone overnight? And surely even a child of twelve knows to call for an ambulance when his sister has an accident?
Oh - and I thought it would never end! In the end, it didn't end in any satisfactory way at all. If this is an example of Japan's level of social responsibility, then I'm both astonished and disappointed that a civilised society can exclude four helpless children in this way.
That's it - I'm reducing my vote to a 6.