User reviews

This is an intriguing film for two reasons; one is the interplay between relatives who almost never see each other, and the other is the possible romance between the protagonist and a possible suitor. The first scenario is familiar to almost all of us. We all have cousins, aunts and uncles who we hardly, if ever, see. So, the audience can commiserate with that situation. However, very few of us have ever had potential mates write a letter about loving us from afar. Is the letter from a potential suitor? Or was the letter meant to be a last lamentation for the deceased? I will not reveal the ending, but it reveals a good reason why we might want to get to know some of our distant relatives a bit better.

In Shunji Iwai's sorrowful film, Yuri-who is mistaken for her deceased sister Misaki-writes letters to her sister's first lover, novelist Kyoshiro. Masaharu Fukuyama's depiction of Kyoshiro's intense yearning and Takako Matsu's representation of Yuri's grief and nostalgia bear the emotional burden of the movie. Chiigi Kanbe's cinematography and Iwai's editing evoke the film's suburban environs with delicate camera work. Layers of loss, longing, and the solace that words may provide are revealed in Last Letter, despite its slow pacing and sporadic melodramatic embellishments. Like Iwai's previous work, Love Letter, it approaches letter writing as a tactile celebration of communication and memory.

Usually, a story only shows one character's point of view. This film manages to present various points of view of the characters very beautifully. Each character has the opportunity to shine and have sufficient screen time for character development. Kudos to the director, screenwriter and editor of this film! This is how a drama film should be made!