Mar

31

2008


Movie: Welcome to the Quiet Room / Quiet room ni yokoso / クワイエットルームにようこそ
Release Date : October 20, 2007
Country : Japan
Director : Suzuki Matsuo
Starring : Yuki Uchida, Kankuro Kudo, Yu Aoi
Editor Rating : 7.5
Users Rating: 7.91 1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars6 Stars7 Stars8 Stars9 Stars10 Stars (22 votes)

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Theres something about psychiatric hospitals I guess. Having been thrilled with Chan-wook Parks off-the-wall “I’m a Cyborg but That’s OK,” “Welcome to the Quiet Room” is another film set in a colorful psychiatric hospital that has been sitting high on my to watch list. There’s also that impressive list of supporting actors (Yu Aoi, Satoshi Tsumabuki, Kankuro Kudo, and Shinya Tsukamoto) to wet your cinematic appetite. The movie’s trailer reveals an upbeat alternative rock soundtrack with a cast of colorfully punkish characters dancing around in a psychiatric hospital. I didn’t know what to exactly expect from the film, but I did know that I wanted to see the film.

welcometothequietroom-main.jpgIn Welcome to the Quiet Room, 28 year old freelancer writer Sakura Asuka (Yuki Uchida) wakes up strapped to a table in a white room. When her boyfriend visits her for the first time in the quiet room, his first remark is “Wow, you look just like Hannibal Lecter.” The quiet room you see is a protected room located in the isolated ward of a psychiatric hospital. Something like solitary confinement, but with straps. Sakura first became unconscious because of a night of heavy alcohol consumption and then taking sleeping pills. Three days later she’s conscious but not sure what exactly happened.

Sakura tried to talk to the nurses, explaining it was all an accident, but they didn’t seem to listen to her. Under the circumstances another patient Miki (Yu Aoi), who suffers from an eating disorder, leads her to understand the world of the insane. But, Sakura is looking for the way to get back to the real world as soon as possible.

While watching “Welcome to the Quiet Room,” it didn’t take long before I realized this movie would be quite different than “I’m A Cyborg But That’s OK.” No sooner than you could make a funny face and play a few sparse piano keys repeatedly, another film came to mind as a source of inspiration and that film was “Memories of Matsuko.” Through a series of flashbacks we learn about Asuka’s troubled past, similar to the narrative structure in “Memories of Matsuko.” The main character in “Welcome to the Quiet Room,” Asuka (played by the beautiful Yuki Uchida), doesn’t have the troubled past on the same level of Matsuko, but there’s a surprising amount of despair found within her life. While the narrative structure and to some extent visuals share traits with “Memories of Matsuko,” the subject matter differs sharply. Matsuko’s problems originated from a series poor decisions caused ultimately from the lack of love she felt from her father. In Asuka’s case her problems derive squarely from manic depression.

One of the more impressive aspects about “Welcome to the Quiet Room” would be the subtle manner in which Asuka’s depression is revealed. A beautiful woman on the outside and having a hectic, but seemingly successful writing career, you wouldn’t guess such troubles existed in her life. But with each flashback you do get a better understanding of the deep level of despair that gradually took over her life. During Asuka’s stay in the mental ward, several different characters pointed out that Asuka was different, not really belonging there, but was she?

Visually the film was done just right. Colorful, realistic, and having a style that recalled everything from the Loveholic video for their song “Loveholic,” to the prior mentioned movies “Memories of Matsuko” and “I’m A Cyborg but thats OK” there was a lot to enjoy visually. The appearance of Yuki Uchida, Yu Aoi, and Ryo also certainly didn’t hurt the visuals. There were also several funny moments in the film, but the comedic elements were less prominent than I originally expected from viewing the trailer.

“Welcome to the Quiet Room” works well to deliver a subtle story on the problems of depression. The ancillary characters in the psychiatric hospital also helped to liven up the film while also bringing to light other mental problems like eating disorders. An easy way to describe the film would be to compare visuals with “I’m a Cyborg But thats OK” and “Memories of Matsuko”, while the film’s narrative structure paralleled that of “Memories of Matsuko,” and the film’s subject matter recalled that of Ryuichi Hiroki’s “Its Only Talk.” Not to shabby company I say.

buy Welcome to the Quiet Room from YesAsia

Cast:
Yuki Uchida - Sakura Asuka
Kankuro Kudo - Tetsuo Yakihata
Yu Aoi - Miki
Ryo - Eguchi
Satoshi Tsumabuki
Shinobu Ootake

If you like this movie you may enjoy: Memories of Matsuko, Its Only Talk, Im A Cyborg But Thats OK


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2007 Movie Reviews, Japanese Movies, Movie Reviews |

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2 Comments so far

  1. 2 luna6 Says: June 18, 2008

    Hey vivi,
    As much as I am a fan of Yu Aoi, “Welcome to the Quiet Room” is as good as it is because of Yuki Uchida …just want to give credit where credit is due.

    Good question about “I’m a Cyborg but that’s OK” and “Welcome to the Quiet Room.” I did touch over this subject in the review but I’ll try to give more detals here.

    Superficially both movies appear similar, set in a psychiatric hospital, main protagonist is a girl, eating disorder is brought up in both films and both films use lots of bright colors and colorful characters. But it doesn’t take long to realize the heart & soul of these movies are quite different.

    “Welcome to the Quiet Room” deals specifically with manic depression ala “It’s Only Talk” told through flashbacks somewhat similar to “Memories of Matsuko” Meanwhile, “I’m a Cyborg but that’s OK” is a love story told in a novel way, that also touches on the main character’s mental state caused by a lack of a mother figure in her life and quite a few more esoteric topics. Stylistically, “Cyborg” is also alot more ambitious and delivers on that end completely.

    In retrospect, I enjoyed both movies but “Cyborg” wow’d me over while “Welcome to the Quiet Room” felt like a very good film. I’ll also say I wasn’t completely convinced with Yu Aoi’s performance in Quit Room as the punkish but thoughtful psychiatric patient. Similar to her performance in “Turtles Swim Faster Than Expected” (where she also played a punkish type of character) the realness found in her other performances was not quite up to par in Quiet Room or Turtles.

    So right or wrong that explains the differences in their ratings. But again, both films are really good, I just enjoyed Cyborg a tad more.

  2. 1 vivi Says: June 18, 2008

    I love this movie, Yu Aoi once again is mesmerizing. However I don’t understand why you only give 7,5 and giving I’m a Cyborg 8,5. I think it’s just the other way around. I found Cyborg is so much pretentious. Just my opinion.