Aug
27
2006
Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World
Posted by luna6 3 Comments
Movie : Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World / Sekai no chûshin de, ai o sakebu
Release Date : May 8, 2004
Country : Japan
Director : Isao Yukisada
Starring : Takao Osawa, Kou Shibasaki, Mirai Moriyama, Masami Nagasawa
Runtime : 138 Minutes
Editor Rating : 7.0
Users Rating: 8.11 
(19 votes)
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Plot Synopsis : Ritsuko discovers an old cassette tape, while packing her things to move into a new apartment. She listens to the tape and hears the voice of a frail girl saying “I’m so afraid of tomorrow that I can’t fall asleep. I think I’m going to die soon.” Soon after, Ritsuko leaves a sparse note for her fiance Saku, “I’m going away for a while. Don’t worry about me. – Ritsuko.” During this time a Typhoon is approaching Japan and Saku watches the news at his friends bar. He spots his fiance walking in the background of a news report at the airport. He knows Ritsuko is going to her home town of Shikoku and Saku decides to go back there as well, the place where he grew up and first met Ritsuko and the girl on the tape.
Movie Review : Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World appears somewhat of your standard tear jerker film (first love, serious illness, parents that don’t approve), but the manner in which the movie unfolded, with its flashback sequences gave the movie a feeling similar to experiencing your own personal daydreams. As the film shifted between the past and present, the movie gradually answered all the questions that were laid out during the first sequences of the film. Intelligently done, without the tackiness that is common in this genre of films. Having the rainy backdrop of Typhoon 29 passing over Japan, made the movie even more mesmerizing and the cinematography, with its creative camera angles, were always a pleasure to watch. The film did have a slow pacing and the long runtime of 138 minutes may turn off some viewers (I would have preferred if the film was shortened). The movie would be ideal to watch on a slow day, when your not in a hurry to do anything but experience a sad but ultimately uplifting love story. A sequence that had me perplexed was during the final airport scene when Ritsuko showed so much remorse for delivering that final tape late. I couldn’t quite grasp why she felt the way she did because she did try to deliver that last tape. Unfortuntately a car accident prevented her from doing so. One of the more memorable scenes in the movie would have been when Saku appears at the hospital with a marriage license. Absolutely wonderful scene that choked me up a good bit. Maybe the final scene in the Korean film “You Are My Sunshine” borrowed the spirit of that impressive scene. The child actors in the flashback sequences were all very talented and played their parts wonderfully. Excellent casting decisions as well, the teenage actor that played Saku had such a strong resemblance to the older Saku, that I did wonder if they may have brothers in real life. Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World is a genuinely touching movie about first love, that should appeal to fans of films like Il Mare and Love Story.
buy Crying Out Love in The Center Of The World from YesAsia.com
Cast:
Takao Osawa – Sakutaro Matsumoto
Mirai Moriyama – Sakutaro Matsumoto (High School)
Masami Nagasawa – Aki Hirose
Kou Shibasaki – Ritsuko FujimuraTsutomu Yamazaki – Shigezou Matsumoto
Kankuro Kudo – Ryunosuke Ooki
Kanji Tsuda – Johnny
Issei Takahashi – Ryunosuke (high school student)
Rio Kanno – Ritsuko (girl)
Tetta Sugimoto – Aki’s Father
Katsutaka Furuhata – Johnny (high school)
Kenta Uchino – Classmate
Aki Nishihara – Classmate
Masaru Miyazaki – Classmate
Marie Kawaguchi – Classmate
Maki Horikita
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2004 Movie Reviews, Korean Movies, Movie Reviews, Movies |
Comments
3 Comments so far
Nice review! Saw the movie. Its a brilliant one. I also really liked the background score.
I would agree with you Rei on your assesement. This and Sukida would probably be the best movies Shunji Iwai movies he never made.
Although not a perfect movie, this is one of those movies that stays in your head and gets better with age.
A great movie, Isao’s style sometimes remind me of shunji iwai.