Be with You

A few years ago, Korean romances took over the market for the romance genre which had been held uncontested by Japan. While at least half a dozen made it big in the Pacific region, the most successful worldwide has to be My Sassy Girl (2001). The onslaught however soon ran out of steam, even for works by MSG's director Kwak Jae-young. His still widely acclaimed Classic (2003) had in fact faded somewhat, and not even bringing back Jun Ji-hyun from MSG could save Windstruck (2004). In the meantime, Japanese romances are making a come back. "Poetic" director Shunji Iwai brought a breath of fresh air with Hana and Alice (2004). It is Ima, ai ni yukimasu, however, that is the best romance coming out of Japan and Korea in the last ten years.

The movie starts with a quaint little house nestled in the most idyllically beautiful, lush green countryside, where a shopkeeper of a cake shop delivers a birthday cake to a young man Yuji, who is making breakfast. We are then taken back to the time when Yuji is six, a year after he has lost his mother Mio through illness and is living a life of mutual support and love with his father Taku. Before her death, however, Mio promised her husband and son that she would come back after a year and stay with them during the rainy season.

When the rain starts, Taku and Yuji find in the woods a woman looking exactly like Mio, who has apparently lost her memory completely. The father and son naturally have no problem believing that it is Mio coming back from heaven, and bring her home. Although in a way she is still a stranger, she seems to accept that she is Mio, and asks Taku to tell her the story of how they first met and fell in love. Through that process, they fall in love a second time (I am assuming at this point that she is indeed Mio). As we share the joy of the family reunited as well as the love story of young Taku and Mio through the flash back, the six-week rainy season is mercilessly coming closer and closer to the end.

All the time while watching the movie, alongside with emotionally becoming more and more identified with these three people whom I came to care for, I found a rational part of me that kept assessing how the story would go. Is it really Mio coming back from heaven to fulfil a promise? Is it a woman who happens to look like Mio but has a story of her own? Or is everything just the imagination of the father and son? The revelation came, not in the form of a super twist dropped like a like a bomb, but through the last twenty minutes' gentle unfolding of past events that provide answers not only to the mystery of Mio's appearance, but also to many things we have noticed throughout the movie that register subconsciously (only subconsciously) as questions. Even more important, we saw another layer about the entire story that deepens our understanding of and care for this family.

But all this would not mean a thing without the wonderful, wonderful performance of Yuko Takeuchi as Mio. Shido Nakamura and Akashi Takei as father and son complement her performance perfectly and, together with the beautiful photography and heart-warming music, make this film the best in it genre in the decade.

The English title of "Be with you" is not devised haphazardly, but has a meaning.

This movie is amazingly touching. I do have some expectation before I watch the movie. When I finished it, it is clear that, this movie is way better than I expected.

The casting is excellent. Every character live in the world of the story. The actors are not acting in the movie. They live in it. The actor who play the role of the son , Yuji, is especially good. Some scenes with him are actually heartbreakingly good.

The movie might be a little slow for some audients. But I find it helps to build up the mood and draw the whole picture in detail. If you had read the plot of the movie, you might say, "yeah, good old story. I can tell how it ends". But I had to say, not till the last minute, you would not know the whole story.

The director and the playwright do an excellence job. Every detail had been take care of. The ending echoes the beginning. And the plot is as smooth as silk.

This movie is not about only about the love between two people. It is also love of family and one's will to face the fate. It may not be a masterpiece like Godfather. But I am sure this is one of the best Japanese movies I had seen in years, and I seen a lot. All in all, this is a heartwarming movie. It did not resolve the problem but it shows hope for tomorrow.

If you ask me if I like this movie. Sure I am. If not I will not spend times to write all this.

I have seen this movie in cinema twice already, a thing I rarely do as most movie could be available in DVD very soon. But after I learned that the DVD only be available after 24/6 in Japan, I have no choice but to go see it again as the urge inside me is so strong. Every time when I think about the movie, I almost shed tears every time when I reasoning what a decision Mio had been made. It is such moving that I wish it will be happened in real life.

The second view was still amazing, despite that fact that I know the plot already. There are still a lot of subtle things which are hard to notice during the initial view but reveal to me now. Every single dialog of Mio talk to Takumi and Yuji during the latter half revealed a deeper meaning to me after I understand the rationale behind. But I wont give out the plot of Mio as I felt it is a shame or guilt to do so, people should watch it themselves, feel touched and moved and being heartwarmingly satisfied when the end credit rolls. Only thing I can reveal is that I have paid special attention of what Mio wear during her first appear…… I immediately search all the stores after first view and bought the sound track and the CD that contained "Hana" sung by the band Orange Range. I have watch the MV of Hana too that song is amazing and that the lyric meaning is so touching that I nearly cry when I watch the MV alone.

I recommend all who happen can come across with this movie to view it. It is not a movie to be missed. However the initial DVD produced in Japan have no other subtitle other than Japanese, which is bad as I want to sent a copy to my American friend. This film is indeed a miracle and should be seen by as many people as possible, not just Asian.

I have seen films quite a lot in recent years,but have never shed tears on anyone of them until I saw this one, which is about the true love between man and woman, parents and their child. Before I saw this film, I often wonder if love is really more powerful than life and death, and if this is true, why is contradiction and hatred everywhere? After I saw the film, I feel so moved with it I come to believe love is the most beautiful thing ever existed,though it is the hardest thing to find. I also like to give a 10 to it's soundtrack. Every time I listen to the music, I seem to see the beautiful pictures in the film again,the silent forest,the rain,and the lake. I recommend this film to you all,hope you will enjoy it.

I saw this film in Japan. It is absolutely beautiful, and very moving. Probably the most moving film I have seen in recent memory. The story is very sweet, full of of young love and the love within a family. The second half had me, and every other member of the audience (which spanned a very large demographic range), bawling (one 6yo girl had to be taken out of the cinema she was in such a state). It does seem like a very long film, the ending went on longer than expected, but it tied the film together and fitted with the rest of the film. I love Hana, the end song done by Orange Range. All the elements of this film mesh together perfectly to make it an amazing experience. It's a bit of a pity the DVD doesn't have English subtitles, but for those who know a reasonable amount of Japanese, it's well worth it.