Hush!

I saw Grains of Sand a number of years ago, so I decided to see this one at the Toronto International Film Fest this year. For me, it was the best movie I saw this year. The characters were great - all of them felt real to me. The humour in this movie is great. Not much more to say except go see it!

"Hush" is a dramedy out of Japan which swirls around a handful of young adults including a couple of gay men and a female who wants to have a baby by one of them. This skillfully crafted flick has warmth and charm and poignancy and heart and humor and....but, damn, it sure is long and bland. About as interesting as tofu, this character-driven film dawdles interminably as the characters pour over their relationships, including families and friends, in minute detail while we non-Japanese English speakers are reading subtitles and trying to keep the male characters straight as they are very similar in appearance. My eyes were bouncing up and down between faces and subtitles like paddle-balls for 2.25 hours. Recommended only for Japanese films buffs into people pictures. (B-)

This is one of my favorite films, even not the best. Each time I see this film, I cannot but wonder why this film, in spite of its central theme, homosexuality, gives me the impression that it's quite an ordinary film, and that homosexuality is just one of everyday matters. In other words, this film is not a special extraordinary work under cover. This is why it is full of humors, which let both straight and gay viewers smile, maybe, in a same way. This film is just the third work of the director, Ryosuke Hashiguchi, who continues to shoot marvelous films, which, certainly, have something to do with homosexuality quite casually, and most importantly, quite naturally. I am looking forward to his next film, whose theme is homosexuality or heterosexuality.

If a movie reflects good human nature and characteristics, why do we need to refuse it and not accept it even it involves gay relationship.

The director really depicts each character as a real person - you trust their existence.

And you will bring a warm smile when going out of the theater.

If you like your movies subtle and sweet, then this should be just the ticket. Although the subject matter isn't too out there in the West, it's interesting to see it broached in the Japanese context, where tradition and respect for family are still held in high esteem. The film deals with familial relationships now, and as such presents a refreshing and forward thinking outlook on the nature of the family unit in the 21st century. Hashiguchi lets us watch these intimate relationships as they build up and, in some cases, break down, without feeling intrusive. There are some wonderful scenes of extended dialogue, the sort of meandering conversations that go nowhere, but that are incredibly involving nonetheless. All the performances are spot on, and there's just the right balance between the humour and the heartache. It's a slow, talky film, but still highly rewarding.