BD 164 Harmonium

[swo17]

[Michael Kerpan]

Great News. If only they could get Happy Hour as well.

[tagimaucia]

Great News. If only they could get Happy Hour as well.

Happy Hour has a distributor (Kimstim) who will presumably put it out at some point

http://www.kimstim.com/happyhour.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Michael Kerpan]

Not sure that KimStim distribution guarantees any home video release (not a sure thing at all, as far as I can tell).

[rapta]

Spine number has been revealed: #164

[Finch]

I found this easier to admire than to like or even love: the script, directing and acting are all excellent and it's not entirely without its light or hopeful moments but I thought this still was a massive downer of a film, and the ending in particular felt almost needlessly harsh to me (think Darabont's ending to The Mist). It absolutely is a very good film but not one I want to see again, truth be told.

[dadaistnun]

I'll largely echo what Finch said three years ago. I knew the basic set up for the plot (what is laid out in the back cover synopsis), but this did not go in the directions I expected. It's depressing as hell, and not something I plan on revisiting for a long time.

Spoiler

For the first hour, you would think this was building toward a blackmail/adultery/displace the father of the house scheme. When Asano more or less leaves the film after the incident with the daughter, it shifts to a "parents seeking revenge" lane; but with the reveal of what has actually happened to the daughter -- the viewer having thought that she was certainly dead -- a mood of complete despair takes over. (It's to the film's credit that it doesn't string you along with that false impression regarding the daughter's fate for more than five or ten minutes.) Ultimately this is another story of vengeance crippling those who seek it, complicated by the guilt both parents feel over their connection to the person who has wrecked their lives.

This really is so well written, and all three lead performances are great (so are the girls). Asano pulls of that wary charm so well that the crooked smile Yasaka gives Akie on the bridge near the end is completely chilling.

[Michael Kerpan]

Thirding Finch and dadaistnun -- Very well made film -- but possibly too depressing to me to warrant a re-visit.