Amo a Minha Vida

Isn't what life is all about? Dealing with decisions made without regret? I don't know about others, but I find this completely refreshing and utterly different from all Western takes on Lesbianism.

There isn't one villain in the entire story, all conflicts and all problems are internal, making it completely realistic and real. No one is there to 'seperate' them, but they have to deal with the consequences of leading a gay life.

I am Asian, and can completely understand the perils of coming out and frowns of society in Asia.

About the story. This is an adaptation from a manga of the same title, Love My Life. It stars Yoshii Rei as Ichiko and Asami Imajuku as Eriko, who are two university students deeply in love. Ichiko decides to come out to her father, and finds out that her parents were both gay, and got married to start a family. This serves as the first consequence of the decision she made.

Like in the film, Ichiko narrates that "When you make a decision, you have to deal with the consequence, and it would be like dominoes falling, a chain reaction that seems never ending". She meets her deceased mother's lover, meets her father's lover, meet with the disapproval of Eriko's father and on top of it all, has to deal with school and her job.

The cinematographer seems very interested in the voyeuristic aspect of life, as if the audience are a fly on the wall in the everyday lives of Ichiko and Eriko. With this in mind, it doesn't really matter if the lighting is a little off sometimes, or that there are parts that are blown out. Or even if the edits are not too perfect... These are not important stuff. These are minor... The story is the gem...

Speaking of story, Manga, though branded a lot of times as juvenile and childish, sometimes has the best stories, they don't have to keep up with pretenses, they tell a story the best way they know how, and this is reflected in this film.

Nice, fluffy, realistic, romantic. It doesn't have the melodrama of Western films, doesn't have the angst and problems of other gay (western) films... it has a sincerity that is very rarely reflected even in other Japanese film.

I think it is great, and probably if you are not too concerned about it resembling anything like Hollywood or American Independent movies, you will understand the Gem that is hidden away in Little Japan.

I give it an excellent grade. And will now go hunt for the manga.

it focused on the relationship between the two girls. We get to know a ...Izumi Ichiko (Yoshii) is the Literary Arts major who works part-time at a local CD music store and also does English to Japanese translation work on the side. Her father (played by Ishida Ira) has himself recently "come out" and is dating a very much younger man much to Ichiko's shock. Her brooding partner Eri, comes from a conservative family and has ambitions about pursuing law. While she has had many relationships in the past (both male and female) she feels that her relationship with Ichiko is different and wants very much to keep it strong. if any one wants to know how is this movie............this is the best i will vote for. its simple and deals with a great theory of.........just be yourself no matter who u r ...what u r....where u r ..what u like. etc the girls is this movie has not acted but they lived themselves as the most passionate lesbian couples ever on earth................hats off from me to the whole crew members of the movie..........i just loved it the most,,,,,,,,,,,,,,i truly love u girls

I'm a straight guy who co-exists with a lot of gay friends, co-workers, and an ex-gf who's now happy with another woman. Anytime something like Love My Life comes along that helps reinforce my belief that 'love is all there is' I'm all for it and will highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

To be redundant, I highly recommend this film to whoever's reading. What makes this an especially great movie is that while the characters are gay - a touchy subject for many - it's a realistic story told in a smooth, comfortable, safe and palatable way that makes it easy to start watching, and there's nothing particularly shocking throughout. Artfully (aka tastefully) done and probably the best manga-to-film translation besides Nana (unrelated movie but recommended also). Love My Life is a very good primer for people who might be a little 'homophobic' or who don't have much experience with gay people in their daily lives and were curious to see how a gay person's normal routine compares to that of a straight person.

A nice love story no matter how you slice it!

Love My Life (2006), directed by Koji Kawano, is a Japanese film about the love between two young lesbian women. Asami Imajuku plays Eri, a gamin-like university student who is in love with the more sophisticated and mature Ichiko (Rei Yoshii).

Naturally, the course of true love doesn't run true. The women have to deal with the sexism and homophobia of Japanese society. In addition, Ichiko is dependent on her father for the funds she needs to enter law school, and he is not charmed by Ichiko's lesbianism. Complications and crises prevent an easy, loving relationship to continue between the two women.

The movie has a charming sweetness about it, but not much in the way of substance. The characters are likable and attractive, and the love scene between them is delicate and romantic. However, I was hoping for something more substantial, and this was not the movie in which to find it.

The film will work well on DVD. We saw it in a theater as part of ImageOut--the Rochester NY Lesbian and Gay Film & Video Festival.