Eureka

Eureka tells an enormously soul searching and moving story about three people's attempt to find meaning and purpose after experiencing a grizzly "busjack" (i.e. a bus hijack). Thus, its "subject matter" and the problem with which it deals is as old as philosophy itself: finding meaning and hope in a world where such senseless acts of violence and evil occurs. The three characters are Kozue (girl) and Naoki (boy), who are middle school aged siblings, and Makoto, who is the driver of the hijacked bus. They are eventually joined by the children's college-aged uncle, Akihiko (who also provides some memorable comedic moments).

There's not too much dialog in Eureka, as Kozue and Naoki are mute throughout much of the film (as a result of their trauma), but we can sense the confusing and searing emotions that lie just beneath their silence. Director Shinji Aoyama (wisely) lets the story and the characters unfold / develop at a very deliberate and slow pace, eschewing quick cutting and montage in favor of carefully crafted compositions within the vast cinemascope frame. Due to its realistic style, at times Eureka feels like a documentary.

Having said this, however, I can also say confidently that many will be put off by Eureka simply due to its epic running time (= 3 hours 37 minutes minus the credits). But let me just remark personally that although it _is_ long, Eureka definitely _feels_ a lot shorter (after it's over) than most 2 hour Hollywood films. (In fact, I don't think that Eureka would have worked as a "2 hour film"--for roughly the same reason that a "Reader's Digest" version of War and Peace wouldn't be as powerful as the full-length novel.) Don't get me wrong: Eureka is demanding (this is a "thinking person's" film), but it is not overly daunting. This is a daring film that asks a lot of its viewers, but which delivers much by way of emotional payoff (to those who persevere).

Eureka eventually turns into a kind of existential road movie, as the four characters try to "start over" by taking a trip on Makoto's new bus. And although I won't give it away, Eureka has an ending that is truly beautiful, quietly moving, and charged with a glimmer of hope.

Finally, although it is rarely heard in the film, the original musical score by Aoyama and Isao Yamada really adds emotional resonance whenever it plays. It's unforgettable and simultaneously beautiful and elegiac. Overall, I consider Eureka to be a great example of "humanistic" filmmaking in the tradition of Kurosawa and Ozu. Only time will tell whether or not it will be considered a masterpiece, but in my book Shinji Aoyama has created one of the truly unforgettable films of 2001.

During its epic 3,5 hours of duration I managed to make some coffee, fry some eggs and let me assure you that I was a totally different man when it ended - It made me think about the real meaning of life, its beauty and subsequent horrors which we all go through at some point in our existence.

This is sophisticated film-making at its best.

I've seen EUREKA yesterday, and I really am impressed.

Along with those beautiful and sophisticated pictures in coloured black-and-white comes a great story; the movie takes both its time to roll out the plot and portrait the main characters. Each single scene is valuable, worth to be seen, contributes a lot to the whole, EUREKA is --despite its sheer enormity-- concentrated on the essentials and thus compact... and: the characters are authentic.

What else can I say? Go, see and feel it!

I wouldn't give many films a score of ten unless they were truly outstanding, not just better, but in a whole different league. It is a grade reserved for the likes of (if I may indulge in a little subjectivity) Tarkovsky's Stalker;, Kitano's Hana-Bi, In the Mood for Love' by Wong Kar-wai, Dreyer's Passion of Joan of Arc, Ozu's Tokyo Story; and very few others. It is more than mere technical brilliance, top-class acting, superb plot or camera-work. What each of these films possesses is sheer humanity, simultaneously painful and life-affirming.

Eureka deserves to stand proudly in such company, for Eureka is a film that is so human it makes most others seem either shallow, over-wrought, or just pretentious. Eureka's plot is a simple, its action, dialog and soundtrack is sparse, camera movement is minimal. The sepia-toned photography is indeed a marvel to look at, and each of the actors performs with such restrained naturalness that they don't seem like performances at all. The result is a film that is less like a story being told, and more like an experience that is undergone or a journey shared. If there is any 'art' involved, it is in producing a film so fragile, yet so accessible, so desperately and painfully human out of material so grueling and alien to most of us fortunate viewers. And in this respect, the movement of Eureka mirrors that of the protagonists, the three traumatised survivors of a bloody bus high-jacking. They are a brother and sister,and the bus driver himself. In the wake of the tragedy, after some months of wandering and inactivity, they are drawn back together and set out on a bus.

As may be gathered, this film is very much about the aftermath of tragedy, about how certain experiences may mark one off from the rest of society, and how with silence, stillness and human company, and most importantly, the passing of time, some form of healing may be glimpsed. And it is just a glimpse. Though the final scene is indeed moving, there is no big payoff, anymore than there might be in life itself. There is only the artistry of the film itself to transfigure the story, and it does this with such quiet, unobtrusive sympathy, that to call it 'artistry' seems almost to malign it. I haven't seen Aoyama's other films, so I can't say whether he is destined for a Tarkovsky-, Dreyer- or Ozu-like elevation to the cinematic pantheon, but this film is a refreshing example of the kind of deep humanity of the best directors, the best artists, one that marks a perfect 10 off from all the rest.

the first thing i heard about this movie was that it would be a 3.5 hours long black and white movie with a minimum of dialogues. that was all i needed to know to impatiently anticipate seeing Eureka. it took a while and it only showed in three cinema's here in belgium, in one cinema each month for they had only one copy of the film, so when i heard it played i found myself lucky to finally see it with a showing rate of once a day only five days/week. a bit surprised but then again could've guessed not a lot of people where in the (very)small theatre. as for most movies i anxiously await i held my breath, but this one captured me from the start. ok, better said: after the first scene is over you get involved with the three survivors of the bus-jacking, the driver and two kids - who never speak again from that day on and seem to live on their own (no one seems to know what ever happened to their parents... which is great, i love certain things that aren't explained in the movies,). but now i give away more than i like when writing about movies (this thing about the parents isn't even that important to the story, hence the give-away of this detail) *also, note that i saw this movie in september 2001 and never found it again to see or buy (if anyone has it and wants to get rid of it...)* the film is split up in three major parts. the first describes the fall and 'resurrection' of the driver, the second focusses on the children and how the three meet up again and try to bring their lives back into balance, the last part takes you on a final road trip through the country in a bus turned camper as a final solution type of thing. the last seconds hold a nice little surprise! (k, not a big o' deal - allthough it has this particular distinct meaning,wich i found quite amusing! -and will b lost for 99% of the viewers- the meaning that is) i know the duration was a turn of for a lot of people and i guess i can understand why most find Eureka boooring, but people like that never ever see these things in their whole perspective. if this movie were to've been made more up-tempo'd, it would've lost it's charm toootally. stories like these won't be told just that easily, it has to be absorbed in it's entirety, so one can feel every emotion intended, also gives you a bit time to think about things as you see them unfold instead of afterwords when you have to recollect the whole movie (which i did anyway but hey) this is a must-see-movie when being a moviejunk (especially the anti-hollywood-cinemaniacs) are u an emotional type? with eyes for beauty? see it.