Blue

I watched the movie and my initial reaction is that I liked it. Though produced in a probably small budget the movie manages to capture beautiful portrait-like scenes, almost like the still life paintings central to the plot. The ambiance sound blends perfectly well with the film scenes, you become immersed in the film's world.

The spirit of the manga remains in the movie, some elements from the source material were changed but the movie's message is how destructive your decisions can be. We see Endo and Kirishima making decisions that will break the hearts of people they care about. They don't make those decisions with malice, they are just two young students.

The manga's minimalist art is translated into film successfully, not using a constant soundtrack, or quick edits. Instead the music is used subtly, only used in important milestones in the relationship of the main characters.

The acting and dialogue is minimal, the camera is detached and many times we're far from the actors' faces, so the actors make full use of body language, making scenes look like theater. The result is in my opinion delightful and adds tension toward the film's climax and other crucial revealing scenes.

Very good story, acting, photography, and soundtrack (both ambient and music). however some scenes could've been snipped that were not crucial to the plot.

When I watched this move, I felt that Japan is a beautiful country. Filmed in provincial cities of Niigata, and Takaoka (Toyama prefecture) Blue captures the lives of two high school girls from Spring to Autumn.

The movie is beautiful in many ways, but especially in the way each scenes are shot. Director Hiroshi Ando is a veteran of directing youth oriented movies, but also has an eye for sharp clean images.

Mikako Ichikawa who played Kayako Kirishima won the best actress award at the 24th International Movie Festival in Moscow with this movie.

The movie that's written, and acted by Gen-X writer and actors has all the subdued feelings of that generation.

Both Mikako Ichikawa and Manami Konishi are models, and are unusually tall for Japanese women, Ichikawa hitting 5'7", and Konishi at 5'6" tall.

Both Ichikawa, and Konishi has successful career as actors, and are familiar faces in Japanese TV now.

I liked this movie for the beautiful imagery. The small stories that's inserted as the scene changes were almost like moving poems. I wanted to see more of relation between Endo, and Kirishima but the movie just kept going without drastic change in the flow.

The movie is well crafted and is definitely worth seeing.

If you're interested in visiting the areas that this movie was shot, here are the locations:

Niigata City:

Mandaibashi bridge by route 7

Furumachi Mall

Niigata station (West side connector pass)

Keiwagakuen High School (The art room scene)

Takaoka City (Toyama prefecture):

Fushiki High school (Near JR Etchu-Kokubu station)

Blue is one of those artsy films that portrays itself as smart and classy by being very slow and low-key. Which can be great, if done properly. But is utterly boring if executed poorly, which is the case for Blue.

The barely-there plot is simple and can easily be summed up in a paragraph. If you read a synopsis, you'll pretty much know what it's all about. But that's OK right? You don't need plot if you've got a solid character study. Well, that's also a problem, as the central romance revolves around two introverted girls with little personality and even less to say. I was completely unable to care about the characters, who barely seem to care about each other. Nobody ever really seems happy in this movie. Emotions are muted and smiles are rare. They never have a convincing reason to love each other, which I suppose is not unrealistic, but it's not interesting. Everything is so internalized that there's nothing to see.

Then there's the cinematography, which should be the saving grace but isn't. Scenes are well-structured and shot, but are constantly of such boring material that it doesn't matter. The editing is fit for a three-toed sloth, with scenes routinely lasting five beats longer than they should or having no reason for existing than to realistically depict the dull monotony of life. Occasionally, there's some great visuals to be had. There's a beautiful twilight shot towards the end of the two girls in front of a vending machine that illuminates one while leaving the other a silhouette. However, such moments are fleeting, and the vast majority of the film is visually bland. Also, there is almost no soundtrack, so it's not even an interesting film sound-wise.

If you're interested in this film, I suggest you read the manga first. It's got better pacing and is only a single volume long. The film adapts the basic story, but also changes quite a bit. The two have their similarities, but feel quite different.

I know there is sure to be a niche audience for this sort of thing, but it's not me, nor will it be the average viewer. It may resonate more if you're gay or can at least identify with the characters. For me though, it was just unforgivably boring. Know what you're getting into and approach with caution.

When Blue had its too-short art house theatrical run, it was subtitled in English. Naturally I missed it, and recently picked up the DVD having heard raves. The DVD has no subtitles at all, which is somewhat baffling given that the translation work had already been done. Does anyone know of a source for a script, or an otherwise easily translatable source for the dialog? Several small theaters I've attended actually distributed typed scripts in English for films with spotty subtitles. If anyone had the dialog for Blue, I'd sure like to read it.

The movie's deliberate pace, calm tone and long uninterrupted takes (5-10 minutes in some cases) really set it apart from more conventional Japanese (and American) fare. Mikako Ichikawa, who may be known to some from her supporting roles in Cutie Honey and Jam Films 2's "Armchair Theory", is impressive. Her character's restraint and painful shyness comes across almost completely through her eyes. She seems almost impenetrable, yet fragile.

This story would have genuine appeal to the U.S. art cinema crowd. Anyone who enjoyed Ghost World could do a lot worse: Blue captures the outsider feel of Clowes' characters without the forced quirkiness.

I've had this movie on my radar for a while, only knowing the vague Wikipedia description (it gives a lot fewer details than on here as I write this) and seeing it on sapphic movie lists. I didn't know much about the plot, but thought it might make for a nice movie date with my girlfriend. To me surprise, this movie was a lot more solemn than I anticipated.

I think it does capture a certain yearning, especially when you're school aged, and for myself hit home. The movie as I stated, was a lot more somber, but I still think it hit a realism within it. The move itself was shot beautifully, the area was a perfect backdrop and from stills alone you can get the feel of the artistic lens powering it.

My only complaint is I do think certain scenes dragged on too long. I do realize they had a point though, and I'm sure my feeling that way is because of attention issues; but in that same note, the dragging had a realism and made you contemplate the scene more thoughtfully-- the composition, the nature, ect.

The slowness may deter people, and there isn't a ton of dialogue, but if you're willing to sit through a 2hr movie for more of a slow emotional piece with gorgeous scenery, then I'd recommend it. Maybe not for date night, however.