I give this film a less than enthusiastic recommendation. It is a quality film and Lily Franky's performance is one to behold (even more so knowing this is his acting debut--I wonder how much he studied or trained). The film could have been more tightly edited. There are too many scenes of ... nothing. I understand this style is done too create an atmosphere and control a pace, and it's a style I generally like, but I think the director over did it. A little too often shots are *predictably* about nothing, slowing the pace without advancing or fleshing out the characters or story. They're just there to say ... "Nothing happens here", just like in real life. In the end, however, my only real criteria for not giving it higher marks is that I have no desire to watch it again. It came, it was good, but now it's gone.
Review of Gururi no koto
