Maborosi
a HIROKAZU KORE-EDA picture
Synopsis
A woman is deeply troubled by the notion that she brings death to people close to her. Already battling guilt since the age of 12 when her grandmother died, Yumiko’s life is shattered when her husband commits suicide for no apparent reason. After spending several years in solitude, Yumiko remarries. She begins to find happiness anew, until she returns to her old home for her brother’s wedding and a flood of troubling memories begins to haunt her.
Trailer
Stills
Press
"Quietly devastating…profoundly moving."
TIME OUT
"An affecting and moving film…this beautiful tone poem to the process of coming to terms with life and death is a real gem."
BBC
"Exquisitely beautiful…a pictorial tone poem of astonishing visual intensity and emotional depth…the film, which was made with only natural light, draws the viewer into its spiritual mood with one breathtaking shot after another, as the camera draws back to contemplate Yumiko from afar. These scenes present her as a detached, mournful figure at the same time that they seem to look through her eyes with a Zen-like clarity that makes you forget you’re watching a movie and are not actually there, standing in her shoes."
THE NEW YORK TIMES
"Beautiful and enigmatic imagery…(Kore-Eda) employs sound, light, and striking land and seascapes to represent loneliness, and as the images accumulate they acquire a drama all of their own…a defiantly original movie, free from all the clutter of more conventional cinema."
FILM FOUR
Festivals
& Awards
Venice IFF
Best Cinematography
ECUMENICAL Prize
Vancouver International Film Festival
First Prize
Chicago International Film Festival
Golden Hugo
Awards of the Japanese Academy
Newcomer of the Year
Blue Ribbon Awards 1996
Best New Actress for Makiko Esumi
Cast & Crew
| Makiko Esumi | |
|---|---|
| Takashi Naito | |
| Tadanobu Asano | |
| Gohki Kashiyama | |
| Naomi Watanabe | |
| Midori Kiuchi | |
| Akira Emoto |
| Director | Hirokazu Kore-Eda |
|---|---|
| Screenplay | Yoshihisa Ogita |
| Producer | Naoe Gozu |
| Executive Producer | Yutaka Shigenobu |
| Cinematographer | Masao Nakabori |
| Editor | Tomoto Oshima |
| Music | Chen Ming-Chang |
| Sound | Masatoshi Yokomizo |
Releases