Comments: I give this film a less than enthusiastic recommendation. It is a quality film and Lily Franky's performance is one to behold (even more so knowing this is his acting debut--I wonder how much he studied or trained). The film could have been more tightly edited. There are too many scenes of ... nothing. I understand this style is done too create an atmosphere and control a pace, and it's a style I generally like, but I think the director over did it. A little too often shots are *predictably* about nothing, slowing the pace without advancing or fleshing out the characters or story. They're just there to say ..."Nothing happens here" -- just like in real life. In the end, however, my only real criteria for not giving it higher marks is that I have no desire to watch it again. It came, it was good, but now it's gone.
Summary: All Around Us “Gururi no Koto, 2008″ spans 10 years of the relationship between courtroom sketch artist Kanao (Lily Franky) and his wife, Shoko (Tae Kimura). Kanao has a front-row seat to the trials of some of the most notorious criminals in Japan—each seeming to get more public and scandalous than the last. However, his mind often drifts back to his private life. Shoko has been unable to conceive a child during their marriage, and her desire to have kids has pushed her to the brink of nervous breakdown. But thanks to the sensitivity and calm demeanor of Kanao, she somehow manages to survive even while surrounded by reminders of what she perceives as her own personal failure.
Gururi no koto
2008
Japan
All Around Us
