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Heavenly Forest japanese movie review
Completed
Heavenly Forest
1 people found this review helpful
by Maja
Feb 1, 2019
Completed
Overall 9.5
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 9.5
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 9.0
Get closer. stay quiet, center your focus and press the button; that's how you make images - but, that is also how you make memories!
This is a movie made to give you your own best at every minute of watch time. If you have read the comments below, you noticed the word "tear-jerker", and: it's not, not really. What this movie is all about is what people we allow to come into our lives and enrich us as a human being. It's not sad, it's warm. It's not a romance, it's connection. It's not about photography, it's about the journey. And it's not for hopeless romantics, but for hopeless overall - it's a little beacon of light, that shows you the path (as it did to both Makoto and Shizuru).
And, then, there's the KISS.
One.
Because it's not about the kiss. It's about "see you in another place"

WHY I LIKED IT?
Firstly: I love photography. That was, I admit, the reason I saw it for the first time, ages ago (I think it was back in 2009?). I struck me like a lightning. i did not expect that, those feelings the main actors so vividly shown. Many years later, I saw it again, almost forgotten all about it (but the ending, of course) and it gave me the opportunity to see a whole other aspect of it's magnificence. As an adult, I ventured into the "no trespassing" zone with our heroes and got much more than a simple story of a boy and a girl, and why she left. I saw the subtle details, the looks on the faces in the pictures she took, the illumination of life's joy she managed to capture, and the reason she did all that.. as a safe keep, as a way to say "I love you" to every person seeing the pictures at the exhibition.
I liked the pacing, the lack of events. I liked the empty pedestrian crossing and the joy it gave them. I like the beautiful scenery, and the loving friends. I like how the mood changes when they enter in a world of their own in the dark room.
I liked the "peter pan" idea, and the biscuits, and the fact that no one was holding a phone or a tablet... and THAT wall at the exhibition - and, that you will have to see to understand what wall I'm writing about. Yes, the one with black and white photographs.
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE
The fact that I've seen it. Don't get me wrong: I absolutely LOVED it, that's why I would love to erase it, and gain the chance to watch it all over again.
RE-WATCH VALUE
Well, ladies and gents, I have re-watched this almost ten years later, and it's value only GROWN in that time. Just because the date of the movie might not be in this decade, does not mean you should skip it. So, set your search filter a bit more on the left, and take a look at some "older" gems.. like this one. Than, let some time pass, let yourself grow more, and take a look at it again. Like me, you just might notice there's a whole other layer there.
OVERALL
I didn't cry.
I was left with the lungs full of purple. (can't explain, my emotions have colors). It's not sad, it's going to make you step back and want to embrace yourself saying "It's all right".
And it is. All right.
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