| Maboroshi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Hirokazu Kore-eda |
| Screenplay by | Yoshihisa Ogita |
| Based on | Maboroshi no Hikari byTeru Miyamoto |
| Produced by | Naoe Gozu |
| Starring | Makiko Esumi Tadanobu Asano Akira Emoto Sayaka Yoshino Takashi Naito |
| Cinematography | Masao Nakabori |
| Edited by | Tomoyo Ōshima |
| Music by | Chen Ming-chang |
| Distributed by | Milestone Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Maborosi, known in Japan asMaboroshi no Hikari (Japanese:幻の光; literally "phantasmic light", but best translated as 'a trick of the light'), is a 1995 Japanesedrama film by directorHirokazu Kore-eda starringMakiko Esumi,Tadanobu Asano, and Takashi Naito. It is based on anovel byTeru Miyamoto.
Maborosi won aGolden Osella Award for Best Cinematography at the1995 Venice Film Festival.
Yumiko (Esumi) and Ikuo (Asano) are a youngOsaka couple who have a new baby. One day Ikuo is walking along the railway tracks and is hit and killed by a train. It seems that he may have done this deliberately yet there is no apparent motive. A few years pass. Yumiko agrees to an arranged marriage with a widower, Tamio (Naitō), and she and Yuichi (her son, now played by Gohki Kashima) move to Tamio's house in a rustic village on theSea of Japan coast.
A drunken spat over a bell Yumiko had given Ikuo just before he died causes Yumiko and Tamio to discuss their strong emotions for their lost loves. Shortly after, Yumiko follows a funeral procession and lingers at the crematorium, until Tamio arrives by car to pick her up, at which point she says she just wants to know why Ikuo killed himself. Tamio suggests that, like thewill o' the wisps his father used to see, perhaps something just drew him away from life.
OnRotten Tomatoes,Maborosi has aperfect approval rating of 100% based on 24 reviews, with an average score of 8.1/10.[1] OnMetacritic, the film is scored 92 out of a 100, based on 8 reviews.[2] It garnered a positive reaction from critics upon its American release, and received two thumbs up fromSiskel and Ebert on the April 12, 1997 episode of their program.[3] Ebert further praised the film in his review for theChicago Sun-Times, noting its "astonishing beauty and sadness" and the influence of Japanese filmmakerYasujiro Ozu.[4] It was later included on Siskel and Ebert's "Best Films of 1997" episode in January 1998.[5]