Eureka (2000)

Highly Recommended

Japan/France

Feature Film

Writer/Director: Aoyama Shinji

Cinematographer: Tamura Masaki

Composers: Aoyama Shinji, Yamada Isao

Cast: Yakusho Kōji, Miyazaki Aoi, Miyazaki Masaru, Saito Yoichiro, Kokushō Sayuri, Mitsuishi Ken

Aoyama’s elegiac, sepia-toned, three-and-a-half hour examination of grief and post-traumatic stress in a small Japanese town – depicting the curious behaviour of the three survivors of a bus-jacking that ended bloodily, two years previously – is a beautiful, moving, and uncompromising film, which certainly won’t suit all tastes, but those willing to commit their time and attention to its sensual rhythms will be richly rewarded. Iain.Stott