Japanese movies that makes you cry your heart out...

Dear friends, I would like to introduce this two movies for your weekend... they certainly will fill your eyes with tears to the brim... *weep weep* Personally, I like "crying out love..." better than be with you. Maybe it is more in context to us, so I cry more! ke ke Girls watch it and let me know which one makes you cry more. ke ke

Movie 1: Crying out Love, In the Center of The World by Yukisada Isao

It’s the beginning of the summer and in the midst of the summer rain, many love stories were created and manifested. Want to capture back that tear jerking and pathos filled love story that you had? Well, “Crying out Love, In the Center of the World” is one film that will make you reach out for the tissue packets or boxes during the movie. Facing an onslaught of thrillers and super hero movies, this is one movie that comes with a refreshing approach. There are twists and turns in the plot, there are puzzle-like holes in the script to be filled and there are leaps forward and backward in time but it does not lead to a murder or villains trying to take over the world kind of scenario. It is basically just a simple love story between two young students when the web of mysteries had finally been unraveled. In the beginning we see a young couple looking forlornly at the torrential rain amidst the dense lush green foliage that acts the background. Japanese directors have the knack for using torrential rain as one of their cinematography tools. (Fans of Japanese movies, I am sure you know what I am talking about.) Then out the blue, we are being jolted back to the present with the boy of the young couple (Sakutaro), much older in his office attire of monotonous black and white. He returns home only to find that his wife, Ritsuko is missing and what was left behind from her was a note indicating that she has gone out for a while and will be back shortly.

This abnormal situation puzzled Sakutaro which confided in his friends which played on this paranoia of Ritsuko eloping. The story begins to develop for the better. The twist is unexpected. Why did Ritsuko leave? Who is the girl that Sakutaro was viewing the rain with? Here’s a little bit of teaser, Sakutaro is still fond of his first love, Aki. However during their puppy love years, both parents forbid the use of telecommunication and the only way they communicate is via taped messages on cassette tapes delivered by a little messenger girl. Little details begin to spill out and stumbled upon, a wedding picture, old tapes being discovered and returning to hometown to re-live vividly the sweetness of his first-love. Sakutaro armed with many queries decides to find out exactly what drove Ritsuko away and what really happened to that “jun-ai” (pure love) between him and Aki 17 years ago. As Sakutaro dwells deeper in the matter, more melancholic, bittersweet moments starts to surface. Not to spoil this excellent movie for you, it is best that you find out the mind blowing twist at the end of the movie.

Movie 2: Be with you by Nobuhiro Doi

The movie features the love story of a widower (Takumi) and his son (Yuji) whose mother (Mio) had just passed away, fending for themselves. Takumi is physically weak and Yuji portraying like any kid who just lost his mother. The wife and mother left behind a promise that in a year’s time and when the rain comes, they will be able to meet again. One day while walking in the woods and true to her promise, Mio appears in the monsoon looking disillusioned, disheveled and disoriented. Mio seemingly to have lost her memory and it was refreshed with the nostalgic reminisces of her loving and romantic past that she shared with her husband. The family’s happy moments of reconciliation appeared to be short lived when the hidden diary of the past events were unearthed. The diary encompassed details of the events which unfolds the story further. So, from the pure schoolmates love between them to growing up, getting married and having a family together, what exactly drives the separation? What caused the death? How did Mio resurrect? The diary holds the key to the events.