Happî awâ

Giving a feeling of Bergman meets Romer, this movie is very intimate, and quietly leaves deep traces for long after seeing it. About the ambiguity of love, power of friendship, transformation and intimacy, an emotional journey.

This starts out as a really interesting movie about four Japanese 30ish women and how they (mis)manage their lives and the lives of those around them in search of things we are never quite sure of. The film is very good at bringing you close to their world, but keeping you at arms length at the same time, and the characters take turns in being more or less likeable/relatable, but often come off as aliens floating through contemporary Japanese society and trying to communicate (or not- "communication" is the key theme). I don't know the reality of said society, but I have met enough alienated and unhappy people in my own to suggest it rings true, specific cultural issues non-withstanding. That part of the movie was fascinating, including insights into family, divorce, relationships, honor, etc. But the issue is not really the five-hour length, probably used to suggest the real-life unwinding of issues; although it doesn't help. For me the main problem was the long expository conversations/monologues, the many side stories and secondary characters popping in and out, the serious issues that come up with no background (that they have often no resolution is fine by me), and the fact the the actors often seem more part of an acting experiment using amateurs, than players in a movie, which actually seems to be the case. Most actors do a fine job (some are more wooden), but it does feel like an exercise. As a "completist" that watches all movies to the end on principle, I nevertheless felt I would have gotten the same messages by watching any 90-120 minutes of the whole length.

We get to know these characters so intimately, we feel they are our friends and at the same time strangers we discover more and more. The 5 hours 17 mins are perfect and every minute worthwhile. I would even love to continue another 5 more hours and continue to see these interesting lives unfold.

It is my first Ryûsuke Hamaguchi film and surely not the last. His incorporation of art and amazing stories into the narrative with vignettes of every day contemplation mixed with big events and poignant scenes are masterful. A few standout scenes are:

A life-affirming course by an artist A writer reading a short story and sublime Q&A A stranger in the bus talking about her father An estranged wife unwelcoming her husband into her temporary home A couple dealing with their son's transgression A nurse scolding a younger nurse about life and death A woman talking to the sister of the man she likes about sex and love

At the center, there are often friends around a table with sublime dialog and lowkey acting. The nonverbal interactions are extremely effective at conveying intrigue, tension and sympathy. We understand the complicated lives of these four women and the people around them in great detail with non-judgmental equanimity. The story is poetic like Edward Yang's "Yi Yi", but not as funny. It also reminds me of Chang-dong Lee's "Poetry". It is however very much its own film and with its on pace and universe.

At times, it shows a somewhat bleak reality of failing relationships and discovery but with so much insight and artistic enhancement. A masterpiece in all aspects that never feels forced, by always allowing introspection and growth, and showing the complexity of life and people. It invites us to observe, it expands our boundaries slowly, it questions and reflects. The moving parts are so well woven together, and the attentive viewer never misses a beat or gets bored. We are there with the characters and events, at the table with them, in their homes or in vacation, at the tumultuous crucial reading and its aftermaths.

A movie that redefines movie-making in its impeccable vision and visceral journey.

I'll admit my attention often drifted in the first quarter (lingering shots) but by the last hour I was thoroughly engaged - I even wanted to spend a little longer in everyone's company. Like walking back home from your friend's house after a great night, and the subsequent emptiness. I saw fragments of myself in Jun's husband and it terrified me. Kobe looks beautiful!

Worth it. It's long but you don't have to watch it all at once. It's a unique movie that foregrounds the slow details and nuances of the moments we experience. I think it expresses subtle, wordless feelings of magic and also anguish in searching for oneself and for fulfillment in our long (but short) lives.

I didn't always agree with the women in the movie but I related to how they were questioning the surface of themselves and their lives, searching for something more than what they'd fallen into or were told to be. The movie is humorous at times, depressing at times, and both. It left me with a feeling of silent reflection on the many sides to life and to people.