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6.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Jôriku daiippo remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you need a movie to keep you on the edge of your seat with non-stop action, skip this. It's not that kind of party. But if you’re the type of person who likes movies that feel like a rainy afternoon, you’ll probably find something to love here. It’s slow, deliberate, and doesn't care if you're bored. People who hate 'old' movies with long, quiet silences will definitely hate this. But for everyone else? It’s a nice way to disappear for a bit.
Watching this felt like looking at a stranger's old photo album. The pacing is… well, it’s not really pacing. It’s more like a gentle drift. There is a scene about thirty minutes in where the characters just sit there for a long time, and I swear I could hear my own fridge humming in the other room. It’s *weirdly comforting*.
The performances aren't 'showy.' You won't see anyone chewing the scenery. Sôtarô Okada just sort of exists in the frame, and it works. He doesn’t need to do much to tell you he’s tired. It reminds me a bit of the quiet despair you find in The Sin of Madelon Claudet, just with a completely different flavor of melancholy.
There’s this one moment where someone is walking toward the door, and the camera just stays on their back for way too long. Most modern editors would have chopped that out in two seconds. But here? It feels like the director just wanted to see if they would actually leave. It’s an oddly imperfect choice that makes the whole thing feel more real.
It’s not trying to be a masterpiece. It doesn't have the manic energy of Animal Crackers, that’s for sure. It’s just… a movie. It exists. It takes its time. Sometimes, that’s exactly what you need.
Don't expect a tight plot that ties up every loose end. The movie kind of just runs out of things to say and stops, which I actually respected. It didn't try to force some big, heavy message down my throat. It just sort of walked away.
