Japanese Film Festival 2007: Tokyo Marigold

I was lucky to get the ticket for Tokyo Marigold, I must say. And I love it thoroughly, no doubt about it. I adore the camera work, the tears, the love lost. It is a movie based on a novel without much of a soundtrack; at times with a girlish simple tune whistled, plain piano's tinkles or just empty silence. Nothing dramatic, and all subtle, which basically blends with the film's contemporary, lonely ambiance.

Eriko, a young office clerk, wears a somewhat indifferent countenance to go about her shiftless life. Till she meets Tamura, and a one-year affair blossoms. Like the marigolds in Eriko's backyard garden, even the most ordinary, short-lived love is beautiful. Lastly, credit must go to the director Ichikawa Jun, for making such a simple movie that touches the heart no less.