Rippu Van Winkuru no hanayome

Before this, I had already seen four movies by Iwai Shunji, and had still not committed to his works. Knowing that it would run for three hours, I did not count on completing it. As expected, it is very slow, but somehow there is always a light tension.

The story begins when a timid female teacher called Nanami meets a man that she has been chatting with on a dating app. What follows is a lethargic but epic adventure where Nanami gets to experience every emotion in life.

What makes it gripping is not that the obstacles and dangers are big, but that the main character is weak. Even in situations where some people would just shrug their shoulders, there is a fear for Nanami's safety. Still, she is not completely helpless, and does what she can to navigate the strange situations. The point is that there is a perfect balance between the challenges and the power of the protagonist.

Those threats can be of various kinds; economical or existential as well as physical. Some nasty things may happen that may remind of movies by Sono Shion, but Iwai Shunji is as usual a more restrained writer. It does not go into horror territory, even though there is a faint trace of it. Rather, it has similarities with old gothic novels.

Another parallell with Sono Shion is the use of the same kind of classical music. Already in the first scene, the classical background music is louder than the dialogue, making it hard to hear what they say. At first glance, it seems like a mistake. But in a movie where every scene is carefully crafted, it is hard to believe that there would be a mistake in the very first scene. It is easier to believe in some symbolic meaning. Maybe to emphasize how quietly Nanami speaks, or that the dialogue is unimportant cold talk.

Notable is also the sets. While not expensive-looking, they are sometimes unbelieavably cluttered. A lot of effort must have gone into just collecting and arranging all the items.

Also look for the few times the camera paradigm changes.

Adding to the tension is that all characters except the main are so mysterious. Many of them at some point show a glimpse of something unexpected, making you think they have something else going on. It's a simple trick, but works very well. In many cases, they feel like real humans, who have their own life, independent of the main character.

While the plot is not completely unpredictable, it makes its own path. One hour in, I still had no idea where it would go or even what genre it is. Fundamentally, it is realistic, but often dreamlike. It is like a real life, but depicting a certain period of that life that is the most fantastic, when the protagonist explores very unfamiliar territory. The most similar sentiment might be found in Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrik.

Iwai Shunji based the film on one of his own novels, so you can be sure that it is completely his own vision. The most sad thing is that it so long that it is hard to find an opportunity to show it to others. It is the most alluring movie I've seen this year, where every scene is fascinating and infinitely rewatchable.

I cant recommend this movie . The movie goes on in an untrusrable environment and you do not know if any one is acting real ... Real life is never like this and you can manage to recognize true from void... This movie seemingly is mixed with paranoia and phsyosis or similar terms ...

Porn sells. Yet it is treated with shame. Every one wants love. And it is fraught with all sorts of expectations. This movie doesn't provide any clarity on sex, marriage, friendship and kinship. But it sure asks us to look at them from another point of view.

The movie may be quite long, but it will hold your attention smoothly you won't realize the runtime. My point being: the story of the lead girl and the people she encounters is very engaging. Its like looking through a window to the life of someone dear to you.

A Bride for Rip Van Winkle isn't actually about Rip Van Winkle. Its about a young adult named Nanami whose roller-coaster of a life forces you to empathize with her. Rip Van Winkle does not enter until the second hour. Nanami had everything against her: a failed marriage, a broken family, no job. She sought refuge with a man named Amuro (Go Ayano) who stages acts, depending on the request of the client (he's like an actor-for-hire--but he has people working with him or for him too). The pivotal turn of the events happened when Amuro hired Nanami to become housemaid of a mansion, the owners thereof are untold. Rip Van Winkle is the internet name used by Mashiro (Cocco) a fellow actor-for-hire turned friend of Nanami. Turns out Mashiro was also a housemaid in said house. But that's not the only interesting thing about Mashiro. Her life is as interesting as that of Nanami. She has her own share of trials and then you get to empathize with her. An awkward lesbian love then ensues. I say awkward because there's something in Cocco's portrayals that kinda disturbes me. But that's just me. Anyway, the unfolding of subsequent events are dramatic. The ending is nothing but a good screen shot of a lady looking afar, probably reflecting of how her life has been and how it will be in the future.

The movie feels like so many things happened yet the simplicity of it all is retained. Its melodramatic but no extensive emotions are required.The pacing is fine-tuned. What made this movie more remarkable is its exploitation of piano pieces that jibe with the emotion of the film.

When well-intentioned parents coddle their children, the children may have difficulty fending for themselves after leaving the family rose garden. This film depicts the travails of a naive young woman who faces the world alone after her protective bubble bursts. Her story is structured in two parts. In the first the heroine Nanami seamlessly continues her comfortable middle class life after finishing college, but then loses her husband and her job. Uprooted and displaced, in the second part she broadens her social exposure, and for the first time experiences the intense union of passionate love, with a nonconformist woman of great personal integrity who is a law unto herself. Contrasts between part one and part two expose shortcomings of typical middle class child rearing and of passionless relationships, and reveal the potential for self-affirmation through our fundamental need to love.

Nanami speaks for many young adults who are ill-prepared to deal with reality. The film is psychologically insightful, emotionally eloquent, witty, moving, and executed on a high technical level. Acting is wonderful, brava brava Haru Kuroki and Cocco. Renaissance man Shunji Iwai proves himself to be at the pinnacle of auteurs. The connection between the music and Nanami's emotional states is so intimate that the film could be viewed as an interpretation of the music. For example, in part one Mozart's delicate and other-worldly Concerto for Flute and Harp mirrors the blissful innocence of one who is naively out of it. Part two begins with Bach's Air on the G String, solemn, melancholy, like a funeral march infused with tenderness and sympathy. It captures her dire state of helpless bewilderment and our compassion for a despairing soul. This film is in that tradition of Japanese cinema where enlightenment on important humanist issues was accomplished through empathy. There is much to appreciate for viewers who are interested in the existential crisis that can occur during the transition from a conventional middle class upbringing, to a sustainable path toward self-fulfillment as an adult.