Cafe Lumiere

aka: Kôhî jikô
Japan / Taiwan 2003, 103 minutes
Dir. Hou Hsiao-Hsien
In Japanese with English subtitles
Rating: [G]
Genres: Foreign Cinema, Drama / Youth

Topics: Arthouse.

Feat. Tadanobu Asano, Yo Hitoto

Aroview: Luminous tribute to Japanese dir. Yasujiro Ozu from a Taiwanese admirer, which honours Ozu's aesthetic in a minimalist study of personal interconnections in Tokyo, set around a young woman's (Yo Hitoto) quest to research a 1930s composer and ride the drifting patterns of her life.

Rather subtle in revealing the emotions and philisophies of its subdued protagonists (especially in translation), this does accumulate a sort of meditative meaning, succeeding also as a portrait of Tokyo and the almost surrealistic nature of its criss-crossing rail infrastructure.

NZ International Film Festival 2005