Les rêves de la luciole

Firefly Dreams took me right into the story,and the dreamy pace/visual beauty,and heartfelt emotions added to the charm.Naomi's journey through pain and loss is very charmingly portrayed here,and all the characters are well placed.Nothing seems forced or overly contrived..more like you are in the locations and absorbing Naomi's everyday life,and the character of Mrs. Koide,the old woman/ex actress will warm your heart.it's VERY refreshing to see films like this,where you are not distracted by noise,gun fights,explosions and special effects.Mr.Williams has created a real gem.Visually and emotionally lush! See it!

Firefly Dreams is basically a nice story about returning to traditional values in the face of the ugliness and shallowness of urban life. Packed off to relatives in the countryside by her parents, a young woman develops a variety of friendships - in particular one with an elderly woman who, it seems, has had an interesting past - and discovers herself in the process. What sets this film apart from others in the genre is the degree of understatement that pervades it. Events occur off camera and connections between events are made, but there is refreshingly little explication, leaving viewers to think for themselves. I would not call Firefly Dreams a masterpiece; the story is fairly predictable and simplistic, the characters are pretty generic, and the cinematography is unchallenging. But it is a nice film and leaves some tantalizing questions to mull over even as you return the DVD to the store.

'Firefly Dreams' is a nostalgic Japanese film directed by John Williams. A girl who is a high school student but doesn't go to a school every day is taken to an aunt's home in the countryside. At first, she seems to be fed up with life and people there. One day she is told to take care of an old lady who lives nearby. I feel this film successfully expresses the very Japanese summer life in a rural area. The actors act naturally as if they lived there. I like this film having no big incident throughout the film, just time going by slowly. There is sparse use of music in the film, and this gives the film a sense of reality. After watching it, I felt as if I had been in the film and spent time with the characters. I recommend it to the people who want to experience Japanese life in summer.

This film alludes the life of a brat from Nagoya, problem teenager from a dysfunctional family, to the life of a former movie actress from the 1930s who is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease.

Most of the scenes are cast in the city of Shinshiro, Aichi, and the town of Horai, Aichi (which will become part of Shinshiro in October 2005), both very small cities away from the visually overwhelming Japanese urban landscape. The unstaffed and deserted train platform of the JR Iida line, a small (and an actual) hospital, the unpolluted river, waterfalls, forests and the hot spring inns are remnants of old Japan, and so are the fireflies, fireworks and a summer festival at local shrine grounds.

Director John Williams captures the beauty of rural Japan and the wide cultural gap as well as geographical contrast between the urban teenager's Nagoya (fourth largest municipality in Japan) and Koide-san's farm house up on the hill in the Oku Mikawa Highland region, while on the interpersonal and spiritual levels connecting the common elements between these two women from two different generations.

The story of Firefly Dreams is about a girl growing up. Naomi is assigned to talk to Mrs. Koide, who has dementia. At first, Naomi doesn't talk with Mrs. Koide or her cousin Yumi. But Naomi feels she could be herself when she is with Mrs. Koide. The story is Naomi's experience of a summer that is thanks to Mrs. Koide. I like this film for two reasons. First, Naomi's humanity. I guess she is not a bad person. She just wants to put up a front. So, she makes money in many ways and buys brand products. She can't be kind to Yumi, who probably has a disability. But Mrs. Koide compliments her cuteness and doesn't get mad at her for smoking and drinking. Naomi can be who she is when talking to Mrs. Koide. Mrs. Koide recognizes Naomi's lack of confidence in herself. Second, flow of time. No big deal or emergency problems occur in this movie. It is a movie that makes audiences listen to the old stories of Mrs. Koide through clips. It made me feel gentle and nostalgic.