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I had to watch this film for an university class. I liked how the main character was neither this nor that- He was neither Japanese, nor Korean. Neither South nor North. At the end of the movie he seems to accept that he is a Japanese born Korean, which shocked me. What shocked me more was that he was temperamental to all hell, but he was shown actually applying to schools and whatnot. While this movie does embody some patriarchal strains, to classify it as a "sterotypical Japanese" film would be incorrect as it is a movie told from a teenage boy's perspective. The quirks that the main female character has is a quality that endears her to him. Likewise, it is his ability to act out of context with societal roles that endears him to her. She admits to being attracted to his eyes after a fight- because they symbolized the wildness she sees in him. It's a sweet romantic film. Would I read deeper into it? No. Nice, sweet, fluffy and dramatic, but in the end it illicits the same "aw" if you can overlook the mixed in sadness, anger, and violence that subtly permeates the film.

i saw this film at the berlin film festival where it was part of the 'panorama' showings (not in the actual competition itself). it was perhaps unhelpfully billed as a film about the 'taboo of relationships between japanese and koreans'. i wouldn't say that it was particularly about that at all - more like a teenager's struggle for identity.

i found it to be an excellent film. funny, touching and well-played. it deserves some international success.

First of all, I loved this movie--loved it. It is a great portrayal of how strict the laws are against "aliens" in Japan. Told from the point of view of a Japan-born Korean Sugihara, Sugihara endures torment and the possibility of lost love simply because he is a Japan-born Korean. It does not matter that he attends a Japanese school (so that he is able to attend University as Korean schools are not recognized by Japanese higher education), speaks fluent Japanese, and has never even been to Korea, he will never be recognized as a Japanese citizen and thus must have his "papers" on him at all time. Despite how fresh and innovative the topic of discriminated foreigners is portrayed in the film, the female characters are discriminated against just as much as any Japan-born Korean. To put it bluntly: all of the female characters--all of them--are idiots. Sugihara's mother, while providing some comedic relief, is stupidly naive. Sakurai's mother asks questions after they've already been answered and discussed in her presence--as though she is too dim to understand. A friend of Sugihara believes everything that she is told no matter how ridiculous. Patriarchal comments are made about women such as "She couldn't cook but she was really cute." Perhaps the most disappointing female character of all is Sakurai--the main female character of the film. Apparently, even in modern-day Japanese films, the female love interest has to be a neurotic--much like many American films'female love interests. She charms the audience not through her wit or intelligence, but through her peculiarities. This would almost suffice if there was not such a let down in knowing that her attraction to Sugihara stemmed from the fact that he beat people up. A woman impressed by male strength--how original. Even in the end when Sakurai proves to think for herself after all, the beauty of her realization is upstaged by Sugihara's screaming at her. For such a brilliant, beautiful film with such clear-cut messages about being born into discrimination, there should have been at least one female character who was not discriminated into the category of being too dumb to identify with simply because she is a woman. A very big let-down for such a great work.

I liked this movie, although I didn't love it. The film centers on the prejudice experienced by a Korean teenager living in Japan; he doesn't fit in with Koreans or the Japanese. But he utters many times in the film, "This is my love story," and while he does have a love interest, it is a rather small part. I liked how this film looked at the different tensions of race, life, and love.

The acting was pretty great. The lead actor was very convincing as the teenager who is conflicted between two identities. He overacted the last scene, but there is this one very beautiful scene where he just sits and talks to a police officer. It's pretty awesome: very simple and beautiful. Kou Shibasaki as his love interest is pretty good as well, and she won the Japanese equivalent of the Oscar for her role in this. She makes the most of the relatively short amount of screen time she has, and we can see why the main character would fall in love with her.

Not the best Japanese movie I've ever seen, but still pretty good. Worth your while. 7/10

It was rather good and I'm sure everyone has some idea of prejudice especially at school. Perhaps more in some countries and maybe especially in Japan that I know of. Unfortunately this rather happens in many Japanese films and this one is a bit too long. Yosuke Kubozuka is rather good as the bullied boy and his father Tsutomu Yamazaki who seems to like hitting lots of people and particularly his son and as with many films in this country much shouting as well. Kou Shibasaki is splendid as the young girl and is interested in the poor guy while we wonder if there will be something between them even if he is not of "pure" Japanese blood.