Saitai

Another masterpiece of japanese cinema. More words are unnecessary.

This is a movie about a orphaned girl finding the mother, who abandoned her in a pile of garbage, and hurting her by way of her other daughter. While I can appreciate the social and moral issues presented in this, which are atrocious, I can not say that this was a film that I enjoyed.

The film is set appropriately with a somber tone and atmosphere but it is one of the slowest paced films I have ever watched. It is 1:50:00 minutes long with only 20-25 minutes of that having any dialogue. The rest of the time relies heavily on atmosphere and trying to read the physical and psychological conditions of each character.

I suppose it could be considered a psychological thriller but I found myself getting bored with all of it. The main character is definitely psychologically scarred and I did feel sorry and understanding of her desire for revenge due to her circumstances but she didn't seem, for lack of a better word, enthusiastic about it. However, you don't really understand her motives until you are an hour into the movie.

The mother lacked the emotional response and desperate search for help one would expect from a mother who is being threatened with the life of her child. Our victim was one of the weakest characters I've seen. There were so many opportunities to escape, giving the set up between she and the main character, that it just seemed implausible that she could not have opened a can of whoop a** to fight for her self preservation.

The only reason I am giving this 4 stars is because I understand the uncomfortable nature of the plot along with the disturbing behavior of the main character. Had I known that it would be so slowly paced and devoid of explanation for the entire first hour of the film, I probably wouldn't have watched this. I'm not a quitter though and once I've started it, I have to see it through.

So here is your warning. If you plan to sit down and watch this, you have to be willing to be EXTREMELY patient with the pace. You have to rely on your ability to read characters by their actions because they are going to have little to say to one another. Finally, you have to throw out the norms of self preservation, maternal desperation and empowerment one feels from revenge. If you can't handle these things, you may want to look for something else. If you think you can handle it, you'll watch a sad movie about an abandoned young woman who is mentally and emotionally scarred.