blind_masseuse Review of Café Lumière

Café Lumière (2003)

A Worthwhile "Huh?"

[7/10 · 22 November 2014]

There are definite touches of Ozu in this film, with much of the action taking place in the background or middle ground. But, it's also a film in its own right, using just the minimum of hints to make it more than just a collection random montage of scenes. It's as if we were privileged to spend an hour or so peeking intermittently into another person's life, but not really expecting to come away with a neatly packaged story, only an appreciation for life as it is. Even so, some interesting themes seem to float in and out. There is the clock/timepiece ubiquitous presence and the absence of words that is as meaningful as a whole conversation. I was intrigued by the possibility that Yoko (Yo Hitoto) felt, on a mythical level, that, like the changelings, she was switched out at birth, though it's not clear whether she felt like the baby that was kidnapped or the goblin ice-changeling left in its place. But it might explain, in a small way, why she was so determined to raise the yet-to-be-born baby on her own--she wanted to make sure that the goblins do not get a chance to switch babies this time. There are other references to fecundity and the birthing process, such as Hajime's drawings that show him as a fetus in the middle of a subway womb, holding Yoko's gift timepiece. Hajime's drawing is, in fact, an anime-like depiction of the many shots of trains pulsing around a tranquil waterway that pulsates like a watery womb, showing nothing yet of what it could bring forth--much like this film.

I do have to confess that I went,"Huh?" when the movie ended. Then, that lively song (was that by Yo Hitoto--it's good?) came on, with more energy than the whole of the movie, and made me understand that I do appreciate this type of film once in a while, but not as a steady diet.