Crazy cinematography (Kûchû teien reviewed)

{FILM DIARY}

Kûchû teien (Japan, 2005)

Seen: Wednesday, 8th July 2009 (cinema, Lato Filmów festival)
Runtime: 114′
Director: Toshiaki Toyoda
Cast: Kyôko Koizumi, Anne Suzuki, Itsuji Itao, Masahiro Hirota, Eita, Sonim
Production House: Asahi National Broadcasting Company, Asmik Ace Entertainment, Culture Publishers (CP), Eisei Gekijo, Film Makers, Little More Co., Pony Canyon
Plot: The story of a family that claims to have nothing to hide from each other, while in reality their life is full of secrets and lies.

Scene From the Film
Very short and random, but that’s all I found…

Impressions In Short
A pretty standard art house family drama with one element that really stood out - the cinematography.

More About the Film
It’s the first time I’ve seen cinematography quite like this. It looks a little bit as if the camera was slightly drunk. It moves with this very uneven, but relatively slow tempo, keeps going in circles, rocking up and down and at one point even turns upside down. In fact they managed to get some good comedic moments purely out of the way the camera moved - it was very interesting to see.
Usually when I see cinematography that tries to be this original I find it annoying. But in this case it really was the right visual choice for the film.
Other than the cinematography, however, I found the film to be pretty generic. Quite watchable and relatively well made, but it doesn’t really stand out in any way IMO.

Recommended?
Not particularly, no. Unless you’re really interested in original cinematography that is, in which case the film might be worth a look.

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