Maborosi

Maborosi
Directed by	Hirokazu Kore-eda
Screenplay by	Yoshihisa Ogita
Based on	Maboroshi no Hikari by Teru Miyamoto
Produced by	Naoe Gozu
Starring	Makiko Esumi Tadanobu Asano Akira Emoto Sayaka Yoshino Takashi Naito
Cinematography	Masao Nakabori
Edited by	Tomoyo Ōshima
Music by	Chen Ming-chang
Distributed by	Milestone Films
Release date	1995 (1995) (Venice Film Festival) March 21, 1997 (1997-03-21) (Japan)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Maborosi, known in Japan as Maboroshi no Hikari (Japanese: 幻の光, literally "phantasmic light", but best translated as 'a trick of the light'), is a 1995 Japanese drama film by director Hirokazu Kore-eda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Naito. It is based on a novel by Teru Miyamoto.

The film won a Golden Osella Award for Best Cinematography at the 1995 Venice Film Festival.

Plot[]

Yumiko (Esumi) and Ikuo (Asano) are a young Osaka couple who have a new baby. One day Ikuo is walking along the railway tracks and is hit and killed by a train. It seems that he may have done this deliberately yet there is no apparent motive. A few years pass. Yumiko agrees to an arranged marriage with a widower, Tamio (Naitō), and she and Yuichi (her son, now played by Gohki Kashima) move to Tamio's house in a rustic village on the Sea of Japan coast, shot on location in Wajima, on the Noto Peninsula (the actual location where the film was shot is Uniumachi, about 5 km west from Wajima along the coast).

A drunken spat over a bell Yumiko had given Ikuo just before he died causes Yumiko and Tamio to discuss their strong emotions for their lost loves. Shortly after, Yumiko follows a funeral procession and lingers at the crematorium, until Tamio arrives by car to pick her up, at which point she says she just wants to know why Ikuo killed himself. Tamio suggests that, like the will o' the wisps his father used to see, perhaps something just drew him away from life.

Critical reception[]

On Rotten Tomatoes, Maborosi has a rating of 100% based on 24 reviews, with an average score of 8.08/10.^[1] On Metacritic, the film is ranked 92 out of a 100, based on 8 reviews.^[2] Critic Roger Ebert praised the film, noting its "astonishing beauty and sadness" and the influence of Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu.^[3]

See also[]

• List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film review aggregator website

References[]

Bibliography[]

• Guthmann, Edward (1996-11-29). "FILM REVIEW -- The Delicate House of 'Maborosi': Japanese film a lovely meditation on meaning of life". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
• Thomas, Kevin (1996-10-26). "Maborosi: 'Maborosi' Takes Powerful Journey of Spirit". The Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2009-09-15.
• Thompson, Nathaniel (2006) [2002]. DVD Delirium: The International Guide to Weird and Wonderful Films on DVD; Volume 1 Redux. Godalming, England: FAB Press. pp. 453–454. ISBN 1-903254-39-6.

External links[]

• Maborosi at IMDb
• Maborosi at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
• Maborosi at AllMovie
• Maborosi at Box Office Mojo (2016, 2019 reissues)