Vaiburêta

The English title is "Vibrator" which is the vibration of the 4 ton truck most of this film takes place in. Get your head out of the gutter!

A 31 year old woman that is a bit lost in life meets a trucker she's attracted to while shopping at a konbini. She abandons her shopping and joins him on the road. Nearly all of the rest of the film takes place inside the truck.

A story that seemingly isn't enough to keep your interest for an hour and a half. Yet the acting from the two leads is excellent. Script is excellent. The direction is excellent. There were a few hard edits that might have been mistakes or intentional but a little disruptive. And except for a couple of slower scenes very engaging during the film's runtime.

We learn about the woman and the trucker along the way. What starts as mainly a sexual relationship develops into something more complicated along the way. There is some nudity and sex scenes but nothing overly explicit. The sex is definitely a part of both the story and telling us more about the characters. It is not really played out to be erotic I don't think.

Not perfect but I highly recommend this film. I'll definitely watch again some time down the road.

Rei is a freelance writer embattled by personal demons. We first meet her in a convenience store where she is buying too much alcohol and not enough food. At the magazine rack she pauses to contemplate the happiness of the glamour girls on the glossies for which she writes. Only later do we realize that this is self-reflection. A chance encounter with truck driving Takatoshi, leads to a two day romp of sex, friendship and introspection. It's unclear if what happens to her is the product of her writer self imagining it all as a magazine serial (hence the inter-titles and voice of the narrator).

The relationship has a certain healing sweetness that comes out in simple daily pleasures of Japanese life, like a bath or a bowl of hot soba on a cold winter's day. It's a little fluffy, but this seems to be an intentional point of the story: the musings of a glamour writer reaching out to the young readers who struggle in silence with the pain brought on by the ultra-thin, ultra-beautiful ideal put forward by the magazines for which she writes.

In the end, it's a road-buddy picture that gives Western viewers a taste of the complex Japanese landscape that is both brilliant in its natural beauty and frightening in its industrialization.

Some would-be viewers will avoid "Vibrator" simply because of the title; others will view it for that very reason. Either way, that could be a mistake. Don't get me wrong: There's some sex and passion here, but VIBRATOR's definitely NOT a "nasty film" per se. It's more a dual character study of two very different people who meet by accident and what they gain by doing so. Shinobu Terashima convincingly plays Rei, an introverted, hard-drinking, and reclusive writer who meets Takatoshi, a free-spirited, hard-edged, yet compassionate truck driver equally well-played by Nao Omori, and on a whim decides to ride with him on his rounds across the main Japanese island of Honshu. It's a quiet, subdued movie, and its wintertime scenery is bleakly beautiful.

It's hard to review this film without making it sound dull and/or depressing, but I found it to be neither. Although it's funny in places, "Vibrator"'s overall mood is simultaneously sad and uplifting. People who want lots of tension and dramatic action may be disappointed here: There's no violence, surprising reversals, or any of that kind of stuff. "Vibrator" remains, however, one of the most convincing and gripping slice-of-life pieces I have ever seen. There is something very genuine about the way it shows Rei getting out of herself in a much-needed way for just a little while. I sincerely wish that there were more films like "Vibrator."

I read the last comment, and I wonder what film that person saw, or what planet they're from. This film was fun, it was interesting, and it was thoughtful.

If the previous reviewer is so myopically wrapped in his/her Pennsylvania experience, then don't comment on foreign-made films.

This film uses a couple of interesting personality quirks of the female lead to open interesting doors that seem to lead to a bit of peace, maybe a bit of satisfaction for her, and then, in the end...?? what is it we really find? The cinematography is well done. The story is funny, quirky, with an urban edge that transcends Japan with universal images, fears, expectations and situations.

And it does it all with two main characters... ;-)

This is truly one of my favorite films; i've worked in the industry for many, many years now, and have access to films that many folks don't get to see, and to edits and versions that are many times better than the final public releases. I truly enjoyed this quaint, quirky, sometimes sexy, often naughty, youthfully edgy film from Japan.

I really think a couple of the other comments about this film have been a bit harsh. Sure it's not for everyone. It is slow paced (but in the best possible way) and gentle...and a truly beautiful gem of a film. And if you like that kind of film you're in for a treat.

The character development is so delicate that it is a real pleasure to watch their journey unfold. To me everything about this film was beautiful, if a little sad at times. Even the sex scenes were inoffensive.

Shinobu Terajima and Nao Omori are amazing and their on screen chemistry is (for me) the key to what makes this story such a joy to watch. I think this is one of those films that you will either love or hate (literally), but give it a try because if you love it, this wonderful story will stay with you long after the credits have ended.