Lavanderia

I actually got this movie as a Valentine's present, and now I'm pretty sure she loves me. :D

Laundry is about boy meets girl. Boy has some issues due to an injury he suffered as a kid, girl has some issues too from a break-up she had a while earlier.

This movie is about the search for everyday happiness. It tells us we all might have something bothering us from the past but we should cherish the moments that have been given us, everyday, every moment of our lives.

Teru, the boy, shows this with his pure innocence, his ignorance maybe of what life is about. His thoughts and actions makes us see we do not need a lot to be happy. Mizue, the girl, on the other hand offers us another perspective; she is aware of being a reject and tries to fit in, without success. When she meets Teru she realises that is not the key to happiness.

The cinematography of this movie is great with nice use of colours. The soundtrack totally fits the mood of the movie, the acting is also of great quality. It all adds up to a sweet and touching story on.. Life.

For the most part, "Laundry" is more convincing, realistic, real, human, and specific in the first half, and more romanticized, symbolic, magical, and transcendent in the second half. I much preferred the former.

I think the key to the breach is the reliance on a romance to move the narrative. The couple are not a real fit except perhaps in a fairy-tale. Even though Teru is a cute, cuddly guy with expressive smiles and pure intents, Mizue is clearly a step above in terms of stature and beauty. She is too much the stuff of male dreaming, especially for a coin laundry custodian. He's like a neighborhood guy who hangs out at the laundry, is burdened by a brain injury, and she is someone who seems to be moving forward in life, depressed or not. It seems like he best belongs with his typical laundry crowd , rather than with its most special customer.

In fact, I think it's his fantasy about her that puts pressure on her. It's not that he's cornering her, but that she has deep personal problems and, as such, is vulnerable to impressions. She has no real center from which to accept or deny him. And no real direction in her life to pursue on her own. And most importantly, she's under the sway of a guilt complex as an addicted and apprehended kleptomaniac. So, it's not surprising that she's often self-deprecating, too dependent, or that she regularly ties Teru's shoes for him.

The pigeon trainer, who initially belongs to the movie's compelling early realism which is so apparent in the hitchhiker scenes, becomes much less human in his home and work scenes. He not only repeats the very particular expressions from his earlier road encounter with Teru which detracts from their meanings, but he too seems now to be more a fantasy figure, signing over his middle class house and professional work to the couple, and then alighting from Japan in search of true love.

Meanwhile, the gray suburban landscape with all its burgeoning gas tanks and poverty also gets the fantasy distraction. Leaping over puddles, flying airy balloons, white ceremonial pigeons, and romantic love, do not answer to the laundry or the tanks. The fuzziness is also apparent in the seemingly several endings-- 'is this the real ending or will there be one more.'

"Laundry" might be somewhat of an overlooked title to make it out from the Japanese cinema. And it is only my undying love and interest in the Asian cinema that lead me to this movie as I stumbled upon it in a DVD store in Hong Kong.

The story told in this 2002 romantic drama is about a young man named Teru (played by Yôsuke Kubozuka) whom suffered an injury to the head and brain during his childhood. He is now looking after the coin laundry service for his elderly grandmother. Here he meets the brokenhearted Mizue (played by Koyuki). A random chance friendship sparks as the two starts talking with each other.

For you to fully enjoy "Laundry", then you must enjoy a story- and character-driven drama. To some the storyline might be slow paced and somewhat of an enjoyment killer. But if you do enjoy these kind of movies, then "Laundry" is a rather wholesome entertaining movie that is rich on story, character development and acting performances.

The acting by the two lead talents was really great, and they really pulled their weight quite fabulously, both individually and together on the screen. There was a really good chemistry between Yôsuke Kubozuka and Koyuki.

While "Laundry" is not a drama that will have you in tears, it is still a rather enjoyable movie, and I can more than warmly recommend that you take the time to sit down and watch this 2002 Japanese movie. It is the type of drama that sinks into your soul and sticks with you for quite awhile. So thumbs up to director Jun'ichi Mori for this accomplishment.

I really enjoyed watching this movie. I really felt for the characters, especially Teru, played by Yosuke Kubozuka. The character is not overdone, and it seems real. Koyuki, who plays Mizue, did an excellent job as well. There's a definite sort of sadness and loneliness in both of their characters which I believe makes the them interact so well together.

But as a warning, this is definitely a slow paced movie, so if you don't have patience you might want to not watch this. I believe that this movie was good because of it's simplicity and the slow pace. Altogether an enjoyable experience!

Something about this movie made me fall in love the moment it started. Maybe it's because I knew Kubozuka Yousuke would do well. Just google his name, check out his filmography, scroll through his photos and admire how not only gorgeous this man is, but how eclectic his portfolio is, to me. He has this cross between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Johnny Depp, possibly Heath Ledger. I love it. One of my top Japanese actors.

Although I've always loved escaping into and being inspired by all types of East Asian culture, Laundry started off a passion for Japanese film for me, and it's been almost a year since I discovered it, and started a collection of Asian films that holds probably over 100 movies now. This is one of the top films in my prized possession.

People say this film is slow. No it's not. It's kind of traditional in Japanese film to take its time, so to develop general patience with films from the viewers and sure to follow genuine appreciation. He was so adorable in this, and so different from his performance in two other films I had seen, one before and one after Laundry. He played a tough though professional guy in one and a street smart thug in the other, yet a soft, precocious, endearing differently-abled young man here. So cool.

I loved the leading lady who plays his girlfriend here! So pretty and with a similar personality of her other character in Pulse, a classic Japanese horror film. She was kind of emotionless, invested with her time in a relationship, but at face value not her mind or heart or affection. It symbolises the struggles of the character the viewer will later learn. Basically...she's lonely.

At the start it wasn't a relationship, however. It was a chance meeting, at a laundry place where Teru works, during a pivotal moment in the woman's life, post-breakup and struggling with depression and insomnia, hence the pills she takes. They get stuck with one another because he won't leave her alone, but as she's lonely, she doesn't stop him. They soon wind up inheriting a mutual friend's home when he leaves Japan to find love, and there is where their relationship begins. I feel comfortable calling it a relationship at this point.

The only thing I don't get is the need for Teru to be mentally challenged. His struggles take up 99% of the film so perhaps without his challenges there wouldn't be a film? I don't mind him being mentally challenged I just want to see the connection between that and the girl being depressed. What's the significance, or is it just an excuse to make a quirky film? Like a relaxed Benny and Joon? But even without his mental struggles--which really just boil down to him habitually rubbing his nose, saying inappropriately honest things that the girl and their friend learn to appreciate, and being absent-minded, however not unintelligent in the slightest--still the story would be so sweet just from the girl's perspective, being so sad and then finding someone. Perhaps it's a touch of dark humour? That someone so depressed would find love with a mentally challenged person and not too much fight this happening to them? Yet it made me still so happy for her and sad for myself at the same time that I cried more than I have for a film recently. They didn't need a huge ship sinking or a notebook disappearing to make a great love story here.

There isn't any part in the film I'd fast forward. I do that even with like Harry Potter, one of my favourite films, and adventurous, presumably always something cool, but alone, I tend to skip to my favourite parts of already seen films if I feel the parts being skipped aren't essential to enjoying or understanding it. With Laundry, again and again, I sit through it, and there are so many heart touching, heart warming moments, I literally shed buckets of tears at the end after some moments of wet eyes during the film.