Japanese Cultural Group

Title: Crying Out Love, In The Centre Of The World (Sekai no Chushin de, Ai wo Sakebu)
Director: Isao Yukisada
Starring: Takao Osawa, Kou Shibasaki, Masami Nagasawa, Mirai Moriyama
Run time: 2 hrs 18 mins
Venue: ITAS LT15
Date: 06/08/2005
Time: 10.30am
Charge: F.O.C for JCG members
$1 for non-members
Review:
Sakutaro Matsumoto fiancée Ritsuko Fujimura dissapeared one day after finding a long forgotten cassette tape while unpacking her clothes. Worried about his fiancée, Sakutaro decided to find Ritsuko in where he thinks she will go - his hometown.

The movie then shifts to 1986 when he was a teenager and then it starts to reveal how Saku found his first “True love”. Everything went well for this slacker who manage to win the heart of a “smart, sporting and popular” girl until one day she fainted while going on an outing to a nearby island during the summer break. This is the part where this movie shine. For the emotional one, prepare your hankies here because you will cry a lot.

This movie is a notch above most Japanese movie i have seen. Beautiful scenery, superb acting, nicely done transition between past and present and great plotline. It is no wonder why this movie is so popular in Japan. Unlike western romance movie, there isn’t much comedy in it. It seems like every second of the movie is spent trying to squeeze out your tears. Even i myself manage to cry abit on some part …

Rating by me: 5/5