Absolute masterpiece, one of the greatest movies not just in Japanese cinema, but in in the history of cinema from all periods and all countries.
It's not the kind of movie you watch and say "oh, it was nice", or even "oh, it was great".
There is a chance you can't really talk after it ends, and be like "hum, ok, so... hum... what do I do from now on, how do I get over this?"
But in a way that makes you feel like you've just seen something crucial in your life.
There is a before and an after. It's slightly shocking - it's about "life" in many of its acceptions, and not especially its most pleasant one.
It doesn't mean it's exactly "dark", that's not the idea, or shocking in a provocative manner, not at all.
It's more like a plain light shed on some aspects you don't really wanna see, such as some aspects of the old age, that luckily not every elderly person has to live, but some do and it's not easy.
But it's not the kind of movie that wants to show you the worst, or the toughest ones,
It's not Bergman's Cries and Whispers (Cris et Chucotements), far from it, nor the Fireflies grave (Le Tombeau des lucioles), it's not this kind of traumatizing movie.
The shock is not a violent punch in your face, more like a slow river, and it's also fantastically poetic and beautiful.
Enough said, but it's a not-enough-known masterpiece from a not-enough-known director, even among movie nerds, and if you feel ready for it (but you'll be), you should definitely watch it. And you will thank yourself for it.
