Wild Berries (2003) User Reviews

More dark than a comedy

[marinelad · 6/10 · 4 May 2006]

The most common description for Nishikawa Miwa's feature debut is "a dark comedy". It is obvious that a lot of darkness is there, as it shows a total collapse of one dysfunctional middle-class family, but calling it a comedy… this could be further discussed. It is not funny to discover that almost all family members lie every day to each other, they cheat, hide things and keep their secrets under the simulated calm surface. The already explored topic of a father who had lost his job but still pretends that everything is like it used to be is widened with an enormous amount of debt he produced. The debt is publicly announced at the grandpa's funeral, in front of all friends, family members and daughter's boyfriend. This causes not only a downfall of a family, but also a failure of a relationship between daughter Tomoko, the only decent and ethical person in this crew, and her boyfriend. This occasion also brings sudden come-back into the family of Suji, the disinherited son and a major fraud, who ironically comes as a family saver. Actually, the things went so deep and so wrong that there is nothing that could save this family from failure. The most impressive move of a young director is an excellent occasional use of a slow motion combined with broken sounds. Nishikawa Miwa uses it to emphasize the moments of emotional tense and gets very good effects. Besides this, the soundtrack is great. It is composed by Masaru Nakamura and performed by the Cauliflowers.

Dark (literally) drama.

[net_orders · 7/10 · 15 December 2021]

This is an early melodrama from movie maker Miwa Nishikawa (who also wrote the script) that seems every bit as powerful as her more recent efforts. Nishikawa has created a banquet of high-drama by populating a Tokyo household with the likes of: a senior with diminished mental capabilities; a husband who fakes going to work resulting in a high debt load from loan sharks; a wife suffocating from being kept at home as the senior's sole care giver (the senior is not a blood relative) who manages to accumulate the financial wherewithal to escape; a recently returned (after a 10 year absence) son trying to move up the minor crime ladder with a devious plan; and a daughter who is a straight shooter (mostly) grade school teacher desperately seeking marriage as a ticket to escape her disintegrating family. Deceptions, lies, and secrets abound! Excellent performances are delivered by well-directed actors. Unfortunately, about half the time, these performers can not be seen due to terrible lighting both of interiors and exteriors. This includes the powerful closing scenes where much seems to be revealed if only there was sufficient lighting to see what the Director intended to show! Subtitles often have gaps between text letters which is a bit distracting. Opening song is translated, but not the closing one. Engrossing entertainment even in the dark. Viewed at Japan Society (NY) Flash Forward Film Event. WILLIAM FLANIGAN.