Oto-na-ri

Oto-na-ri is a somewhat unconventional romantic movie starring a JE actor who can actually act. Why the movie is unconventional, you actually need to watch it because I don't want to ruin the movie for you. For me, the color was a little dark, but that probably has to do with the whole sound-without-sight idea (again, if you're just reading this it might be confusing - the movie is about two neighbors who don't meet; they follow each other's life through the sounds in the other apartment). Simple (definitely not mind-blowing by any measure), artistic, with good acting (though Okada is my favorite actor, I was more impressed by Aso's acting in this particular instance), I would re-watch Oto-na-ri again and again. It's very heart-warming, cute, yet not a conventional chick-flick. Not groundbreaking, but definitely not without merit. Recommended.

I love Japanese movies. They are the last bastion of wholesomeness and normalcy in a rotten world. Their stories are genuine and meaningful and always have a certain poetry to them. This one is about a photographer and a florist who live next door to each other and due to the walls being so thin developing quite some familiarity without ever actually talking. They are both in their thirties and still single, distracting themselves with their careers. But I won't spoil much more. All I can say I enjoyed it very much, especially the second half.