Himizu (2011)

They need to rewrite the synopsis for this maudlin, over-sentimental cryfest of a film. From the description, I was expecting something exciting like 'Natural Born Killers', 'Bonnie & Clyde' or even 'Baise Moi'. Hell, I would've even settled for a Japanese 'Thelma & Louise' but this movie failed to deliver the goods.If you like to see young teens cry & cry & cry & scream & cry & cry & scream & cry then this movie is for you. Bring a box of tissues, just don't expect to see what the synopsis promised.This was not an action film at all, just an implausible drama with a lot of verbal diatribe to waste your time away. If 14 year old teens really speak with that kind of maturity then I'll eat my shorts.They used to make silly cryfests like these in Hollywood back in the 30's and 40's. Why they chose to reprise the same shtick in Japan is beyond me. People go for this stuff? Even watching a fluorescent lamp flicker is more interesting than 'Himizu.' What a rip.

Senseless violence, histrionic personages, forced situations repeated once and again, a pointless script plot and story, unjustified brutality, incoherent and unconnected scenes just piled up together... A bunch of personages seem to have lost any leitmotiv in their lives along with all their possessions after the Tsunami that swept away their belongings. The protagonist is the one in the neighborhood who lost less and still keeps a house and a small boat renting business, yet he is the one with a more bleak attitude towards life and his own future, something that is comprehensible on the basis that he is an adolescent with a fully broken family and a father coming home just to insult and beat him up. Basically, during the first half of the film we witness a series of violent, close to sadistic acts exerted on the protagonist, and in the second part it is time for the protagonist to exert the same violence on whoever he considers deserving of it... ¿what conclusion can we draw from all this?... none really, unless someone wants to find some overall sense to the film in the last (pathetic and ridiculous!) scene. Besides, there is not a coherent story line anywhere, we hardly ever get to know the why of particular actions in the different personages, actions that systematically stem from or lead to a completely senseless violence.The female protagonist, a classmate of the guy, is the total reverse of him; she loves him, and tries by every means to draw his attention (despite his hostile, dismissing and abusing attitude towards her), making for him things that go far beyond what can be considered reasonable. Yet some funny scenes with this female character as protagonist are the only ones in the film that can be watchable (and the only reason why I give it 2 stars instead of 1).Some pieces of classical music used pointlessly with tiresome insistence in every part of the film complete this terrible more-than-two hours movie theater experience. Please skip it.

After Love Exposure, I want to give this director's other movies a go. What a mistake, this movie stinks. How could a director who is capable of making something exciting to watching like LOVE EXPOSURE makes something horrible as HIMIZU is beyond me.I like movies that are different. This movie is different. But also very dull and boring. No one could relate to any of the characters depicted.This movies has a lot of uninteresting WTF moments that make no sense at all. I fell asleep twice watching this movie. The protagonist is depicted as mind-numbingly dull fellow. The girl is retarded. Actually all of the characters are retarded. I wonder if the radiation has something with it.I highly don't recommend this movie. What a waste of time.

Some of you already know I'm a huge fan of Love Exposure, but I hadn't seen anything else from Sono until this, so I was greatly anticipating it. It's set in post-tsunami Japan, and this setting is not only a context but a very important part of the plot, perhaps too much so especially at the ending when the film turns a little into a moralizing or even propaganda piece, with the main character crying "Don't give up!" repeatedly while we see images of the ravages of the flood. I gotta say those last minutes moved me to the verge of tears though, but that has more to do with how it builds up and connects previous elements shown in the film in a rather messy way. But I think that's the Sono way, with quick shots and thoughts put together, unexpected transitions, poetry mixed up with violence, sometimes inscrutable characters... This film also has some powerful cinematography going for it, with thinned down and warm colors, probably with some filter involved or maybe just postproduction grading to create this beautiful effect. Also worthy of notice is the soundtrack, with pieces from Mozart and Barber that enhance the poignancy of the film. So in the end it's a tragic and also hopeful love story, with different situations involved that make true sense only towards the end. It has some disturbing scenes, with parents who want their children dead or people who want to kill other people in the street for no rational reason... Situations that are quite effective in portraying not only the material but also the moral and mental damages that can be caused by such an event as last year's tsunami. Still, it's no match to Love Exposure, and I don't think anything else from Sono is/will be.****