poikkeus

The Meiji Restoration was an extraordinary era in Japanese history, when the country shook off its feudal past to embrace an uncertain future. YAE NO SAKURA dramatizes the story of Nijima Yae, a tomboy who grows into a beautiful young woman - and becomes something of an expert in gunnery in the process. At the same time, her home clan - the Aizu - is asked to protect the Shogun and his court from rebels from Choshu.

YAE NO SAKURA won an international Emmy award in 2014 for best drama series, and it's easy to tell why. Production values and special effects are frequently outstanding, and the story itself has a dramatic intensity that recalls the U.S. Civil war; both wars occurred in the same decade.

The Jidaeki series stars the affable and beautiful Haruka Ayase in the leading role. She's a good choice. This year-long series offers insight into a time in Japanese history that was embroiled in controversy; after several hundred years of relative peace under the ruling Toyotomi clan, a change in power left much of the country in a political limbo.

YAE NO SAKURA is a real treat.

Yeoung-Min (Jung-suk Jo) isn't thirty yet, but is already having doubts about his relationship with his opinionated wife, Mi-yeong (Min-a Shin). MY LOVE, MY BRIDE captures a series of episodes in their lives when temptation, compromise, and selfishness seem to be eroding their young relationship.

The "plot" hinges on everyday small dramas that threaten to become uncontrollable - until love and common sense put their lives in proper perspective. Yeong-Min works in public welfare, but hopes to be a writer; Mi-yeong feels he's being taken for granted.

Min-a Shin is especially appealing as the young, under-appreciated wife who's only known one love, but you wish the film could have had more payoff during the individual episodes. The Yeoung-Min segments in particular would have been more appealing if the characters had more detailed characterizations.

With THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT, it's not a matter of reducing your expectations; it's more trying to change your expectations.

Over the course of a day in a cramped Berlin apartment, a busy family deals with the usual mundane details: eating breakfast, fixing a washing machine, watching unwashed plates pile up, watching a hacky-sack fly through the window. Some characters tell in-jokes that almost seem surreal at times. And there's also a dog and cat, who watch the activity with curiosity.

THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT not a documentary, but an almost verite family comedy. The whole film is shot at about kitchen counter level - the level where the film's "strange" cat wanders through the rooms. Once you get into the rhythm of the film, it's engrossing and frequently funny; it suggests that everyday life, as trivial as it might seem, has great value and interest, even when you might be tempted to think otherwise.