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Reviews
Taiyô no uta (2006)
A pleasant surprise
When looking at the movie poster, I was preparing to expect another one of those extremely sappy, corny Japanese love/romance films. The pace was slow for the first 10 mins or so, something perhaps viewers would take note of to allow them to absorb the general feel of the surrounding. ie. in a quiet, small laid-back, seaside Japanese town and the weaving of the plot slowly into the picture. But what surprised me is that the film is extremely honest, believable and heartrending at the end. It kind of made you believe somewhere out there someone is living such a life. Still, it evokes mixed emotions within me as I was watching the plot unfolds. Perhaps it was the slow pace of development of the story that made it seem so real a story as it allows for natural progression of humour (when the female protagonist (a creditable performance by Yui) is still pining for Koji) into sweet, saccharine love (when they were in a relationship), to the relationship's inevitable conflict and its rather touching resolution and finally to a sad, tragic ending. And before you knew it, you'd be wishing Kaoru was still alive in the film at the end. In short, the movie excellent evokes powerful emotions that makes it a perfect emotional roller-coaster ride in the 2 hours of screen time.