An

Although I've traveled through Japan for three weeks last year, I had never heard of dorayaki, let alone eaten it. This omission has been put to an end by the film 'An'. As a nice and original gimmick, every viewer in the cinema I went to, received a dorayaki with his ticket, nicely wrapped in cellophane. The fun thing is: nobody knew exactly what is was, until the film was well underway.

A dorayaki is a sort of double mini-pancake, filled with bean paste. The Japanese word for the bean paste is an, hence the title of the film.

'An' is a small, heartfelt, feel-good movie. It starts and ends with beautiful images of cherry-blossom, the epitome of all things Japanese. The story takes place in the twelve month period between the blossom seasons. Sentaro, a quiet man in his thirties, sells dorayaki in a fast food stand. One day, a woman in her seventies brings him a plastic box filled with home-made an, because she doesn't like the industrial an Sentaro uses for his dorayaki. At her request, Sentaro hesitantly hires her as an expert an-maker, and from then on, business is booming.

This sounds like 'An' is a movie about food. It is, but it's about much more. The story is also about illness, death, discrimination, youth and capitalism. But above all, it's about enjoying life and looking at the bright side of things. There are parallels with the wonderful Indian film 'Lunch Box', but 'An' is less energetic and much more philosophical. It tends to be a bit slow, and towards the end the story drags on a bit. But these are minor flaws. Overall, 'An' is a nice film that makes you leave the cinema with the feeling that mankind isn't so bad after all.

Tears rolled down from my eyes while watching An. The movie reminds me of the evils of discrimination. Unique and beautiful, everyone deserves love. Also, it is important to throw oneself heart and soul into everything one does. Let's say NO to a flippant attitude and I hope my students can understand that constant efforts yield success. Moreover, this touching movie reminds us to treasure what we have and not to take everything for granted.

Although the story is rather simple, the film is worth watching because of Kirin Kiki, one of the best Japanese actresses. Her acting is beyond compare. I totally feel for her character, who stays positive and truly appreciates the beauty of the mother nature despite her sad story. Masatoshi Nagase is impressive too. He subtly expresses his suppressed frustration, in spite of his long silences at the beginning of the film. I also love his performance in another film, Kano. Apart from the capable leads, the cinematography is awesome. The four seasons, the food and the mother nature are beautifully captured.

Like red beans, life is bittersweet in nature. Nevertheless, the elderly woman's secret recipe for truly transcendent dorayakis reminds us that we are able to get rid of the bitter taste, with a good attitude, smiles, effort and love.

The last film directed by Naomi Kawase and I think the first in which she didn't use a script of her own , being an adaptation from a novel....

Watching the trailer you can feel that the movie is something more that it shows, being this a great success because they didn't spoil the most important part of the plot, letting the audience discover the truth about this characters while watching the movie.

The film is a beautiful tale about redemption, friendship and nature, told through a slow and very poetic style but although that it is a slow movie , I didn't even notice the duration of it because I was absorbed into the story...

I have read a lot about Naomi Kawase work and I was very interested but I've never had the chance of watch any of her movies until now, I have read that this one is her less personal and more commercial film but I'm looking forward to watch her previous works...I have really enjoyed her intimate way of tell stories and her exquisite style, I instantly became a fan of her...

The worst thing about this movie is that it makes you hungry Emoticono tongue

VERY GOOD MOVIE

"Sweet Bean" is a small, reflective movie that depicts the relationship between a guy working at a dorayaki shop, a sweet filled with 'an' (the reason for its original title), an old lady that appears out of nowhere and tries to convince him to employ her at his shop, and a young high school student who has her own problems with her family. Little by little, they become close to each other, a bond is created and they get a glimpse into their respective pasts.

Naomi Kawase normally does slow-burning movies, with a relaxed atmosphere, long takes and centering on the actors and their exchanges. "Sweet Bean" is not an exception and the actors answer with great performances all around (even sometimes histrionic Kirin Kiki, here very tone down and contemplative). The plot may seem simple, but it has different layers, which will grip the viewer, making them not only enjoy, but also think.

There are a couple of shaky points, though. First, the pace suffers in some moments, being a little bit brusque, some plot developments a little bit out of the blue. The second is that the last act is a little bit overlong and/or in-your-face.

"Sweet Bean" will be enjoyed by everyone. And make you hungry.