Review_ Like Someone in Love

So yes, I did manage to get a free entry into seeing this film I mentioned earlier *link*

*pic source*

Alrighty, so let me share my thoughts.

Director: Abbas Kiarostami
Main characters from left to right: Takashi Watanabe (Tadashi Okuno), Akiko (Rin Takanashi) and Noriaki (Ryo Kase)

First thing. I loved the way the film started. Credits roll with the backdrop of a busy restaurant/cafe noise for at least 4minutes, builds you up to anticipate the opening shot of what dining in Japan may be like. It also felt like we had just finished watching a movie too.

The camera then was mostly in a static position, as you watched what was a rather ordinary happening in a dim lit bar. Who is the main character you wonder? A red head catches your attention but is only a red herring.

Plot - A dilemma comes up for young university student Akiko is faced with a must attend job and her grandma visiting Tokyo only for a brief few hours during her transit. Akiko is a prostitute and it was a job she isn't allowed to refuse. You never meet the grandmother , nor does she ever talk to her, we are introduced to a character simply through a series of telephone voicemail messages. CLEVER! The whole time Akiko is listening to the messages in the taxi on her way to her "job", the camera remains fixed on a close up of her face as the blur of neon japan whizzes pass.

Amongst all this she has a boyfriend who intends to marry her, is not sure he can trust her and thinks Mr. Watanabe is her grandfather.

Mise en scène  - ★★★★★  . The way the props/set was arranged in front of the mostly still camera was incredible. It was very purposeful and the background/items/placement of objects told just as much of the story as the script.
Camera -  ★★★★★ The camera did a lot of the talking in the film, in the sense of showing us life in Japan, the streets, the shops, the apartments. Mid shots were used to capture all that was in the background, giving the characters depth since there wasn't too much dialogue or on screen drama.

I cannot reveal anymore. It is a slow moving film and it's what is not shown or said that makes this one worth watching. It you have an eye for detail and are a film student then the happenings are predictable and set up through the mise en scène. But apart from that the ending is still a surprise in some ways.

Overall - ★★★★

Bottom line - Don't walk in with specific expectations, just sit back, observe and enjoy =P