Sweet Bean (2015) User Reviews

Small, heartfelt, feel good movie

[rubenm · 7/10 · 14 February 2016]

Although I've traveled through Japan for three weeks last year, I had never heard of dorayaki, let alone eaten it. This omission has been put to an end by the film 'An'. As a nice and original gimmick, every viewer in the cinema I went to, received a dorayaki with his ticket, nicely wrapped in cellophane. The fun thing is: nobody knew exactly what is was, until the film was well underway.

A dorayaki is a sort of double mini-pancake, filled with bean paste. The Japanese word for the bean paste is an, hence the title of the film.

'An' is a small, heartfelt, feel-good movie. It starts and ends with beautiful images of cherry-blossom, the epitome of all things Japanese. The story takes place in the twelve month period between the blossom seasons. Sentaro, a quiet man in his thirties, sells dorayaki in a fast food stand. One day, a woman in her seventies brings him a plastic box filled with home-made an, because she doesn't like the industrial an Sentaro uses for his dorayaki. At her request, Sentaro hesitantly hires her as an expert an-maker, and from then on, business is booming.

This sounds like 'An' is a movie about food. It is, but it's about much more. The story is also about illness, death, discrimination, youth and capitalism. But above all, it's about enjoying life and looking at the bright side of things. There are parallels with the wonderful Indian film 'Lunch Box', but 'An' is less energetic and much more philosophical. It tends to be a bit slow, and towards the end the story drags on a bit. But these are minor flaws. Overall, 'An' is a nice film that makes you leave the cinema with the feeling that mankind isn't so bad after all.

Move Thee Reviews: A Secret Recipe for a Happy Life

[ken1848 · 8/10 · 6 February 2016]

Tears rolled down from my eyes while watching An. The movie reminds me of the evils of discrimination. Unique and beautiful, everyone deserves love. Also, it is important to throw oneself heart and soul into everything one does. Let's say NO to a flippant attitude and I hope my students can understand that constant efforts yield success. Moreover, this touching movie reminds us to treasure what we have and not to take everything for granted.

Although the story is rather simple, the film is worth watching because of Kirin Kiki, one of the best Japanese actresses. Her acting is beyond compare. I totally feel for her character, who stays positive and truly appreciates the beauty of the mother nature despite her sad story. Masatoshi Nagase is impressive too. He subtly expresses his suppressed frustration, in spite of his long silences at the beginning of the film. I also love his performance in another film, Kano. Apart from the capable leads, the cinematography is awesome. The four seasons, the food and the mother nature are beautifully captured.

Like red beans, life is bittersweet in nature. Nevertheless, the elderly woman's secret recipe for truly transcendent dorayakis reminds us that we are able to get rid of the bitter taste, with a good attitude, smiles, effort and love.

A sweet slice of life

[ReganRebecca · 7/10 · 22 December 2016]

I went into Sweet Bean blind, knowing only that it featured the titular sweet bean paste of the title. What a delightful little film it is!

It's an unusual tale about three loners all drawn together in a dorayaki shop. Sentarô is a, gloomy middle aged chef, who works at a small middling dorayaki shop, making the pancakes and sweet bean paste that comprise the dorayakis. His shop is attended daily by a teenage girl, Wakana, whose mother does not value higher education and wants her to get a job as soon as possible. One day an elderly woman, Tokue, appears, wanting to work in the shop and claiming it has always been her dream to do so. Sentarô turns her away gently, but when she returns and offers him a sample of her sweet bean paste he is moved by her product and hires her to work with him.

Like many films about cuisine this film will whet your appetite. I've never eaten dorayaki but there were so many great shots of the making of the food that I was hungry after watching it.

All of Kawase's films are lovely and this one is no exception. The film is contemplative without feeling slow. I've read reviews that say it is more accessible than her other films and it definitely seems that way to me. A good place to start with her filmography if you haven't seen in any of her films before.

Beautiful film

[athena-no-sainto · 8 December 2015]

The last film directed by Naomi Kawase and I think the first in which she didn't use a script of her own , being an adaptation from a novel....

Watching the trailer you can feel that the movie is something more that it shows, being this a great success because they didn't spoil the most important part of the plot, letting the audience discover the truth about this characters while watching the movie.

The film is a beautiful tale about redemption, friendship and nature, told through a slow and very poetic style but although that it is a slow movie , I didn't even notice the duration of it because I was absorbed into the story...

I have read a lot about Naomi Kawase work and I was very interested but I've never had the chance of watch any of her movies until now, I have read that this one is her less personal and more commercial film but I'm looking forward to watch her previous works...I have really enjoyed her intimate way of tell stories and her exquisite style, I instantly became a fan of her...

The worst thing about this movie is that it makes you hungry Emoticono tongue

VERY GOOD MOVIE

Beautiful, moving film.....

[namnhan2003 · 9/10 · 9 April 2016]

I watched this film with awe by its gentleness that goes straight to the heart...the actress who plays Tokue is a experienced actress and she has a beautiful smile that just melt your heart....Although it deals with leprosy but there is nothing hideous nor deformity which makes you feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, the beauty in everything which Tokue is seeing is so beautiful: the moon, the cherry blossoms, the sunlight...and the small bakery shop seems like a refuge for her....She has a mother-son relationship-like toward the baker and her acting is so natural that just moves you so much. I recommend this beautiful Japanese film to anyone. Don't miss out this rare pearl...

Just magnificent

[thor2029 · 10/10 · 1 July 2020]

• Sweet Bean - Is more than just a movie, it's delicious poetry that can be enjoyed in small bites, like dorayakis. This wonderful movie is just simple and overflowing with wisdom, love and compassion, to describe it is not the best way, it is to feel all your emotions that take away, a little honey in hot milk, just to soften the heart. Magnificent.

An excellent film but NOT one to watch if you are feeling depressed....

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 22 October 2016]

"Sweet Bean" is a film that revolves around Dorayaki--small pancakes that are glued together (usually) with sweet red bean paste. For anyone who hasn't had these sweet beans, they are amazingly delicious and any Japanese dish with sweet beans is a real treat. So, as I watched the film, it made me really, really hungry!

When the film begins, the manager of s tiny Dorayaki shop is approached by an elderly woman who wants a part-time job. He refuses, as she appears to be at least in her mid-70s. However, she is persistent and presents him with some of her sweet beans. After eating them, he realizes her filling is much better than his and he immediately hires her. She teaches him her method and together they are very successful. However, while you'd think this would result in a happily ever after sort of ending, it is NOT so sweet....but actually rather depressing and bitter-sweet. I am NOT being critical about the film...just warning you as folks who are already depressed might be better off watching another film. The themes involving Japanese prejudices against the disabled are interersting...but naturally not particularly fun to watch! Overall, the film has lovely acting and pacing...but also might not provide the sort of payoff you might be looking for in a movie.

Encountering an unexpected and its impacts forever.

[Reno-Rangan · 8/10 · 14 August 2016]

The Japanese foods considered as the healthiest food in the world. Yes, it's a food and restaurant related theme, and those who loves them should give it a try. It was another film like 'Midnight Diner' that I saw a couple of months back, which focused on a small eatery as this one. What fascinated me was its simple storyline and the realistic approach. It was based on the novel of the same name of the original Japanese title 'An' which translated as 'Bean Paste'. It is not just a food film, but well explored relationship of the people from different generations. This is quite common I found in the Japanese films, yet very distinct from other similar ones.

There were three characters in the films that kind of represents past, present and future. Where they all learn some important lessons from each others. I don't know that was intentionally done, but that is how I saw it. The most of the story's perspective was from the middle aged man, Sentaro who runs a small dorayaki shop which regularly visited by the students of the nearby school and the locals. His story is kind of depressing. Not the film, just what he went through in his life and after that his life remained quite a low without an alternative. Though, there were no flashbacks, but just revealed by orally when the right time comes.

One day a very old woman named Tokue comes asking for a job after seeing the signboard outside the shop and somehow she manages to grab it. Later she teaches him to make his own bean paste. This is the part I like very much, because it might have not revealed fully how to make a bean paste, but definitely you would feel you want to taste it right away when you see the beautifully prepared paste filled in the tray. So I won't be surprised if you visit a Japanese restaurant just to make your first taste of dorayaki or whenever you visit there, remember this film and ask for it.

"It's like a first date, the young couple needs to get friendly."

So with such a development, the film takes a leap to the next stage of the story. Where the shop sees the rise in customer influx and by its success, Tokue offered to stay and help further. On the other side a middle school girl, Wakana who has not decided about her future, whether to attend the high school or get a job in Takue's shop which obviously went to the old woman. In the meantime, all the three develop a close relationship to each other in the short time. Despite from the different social group, but the strong connection with the shop. But one day as the gossip spreading like a wildfire all over the town about the shop, followed by a couple of unexpected events, the story nears to its end part with an emotional episode.

The most of the film looked like a poetry. The director, who also wrote the screenplay did an awesome job. The cast's performances were outstanding. I have seen them all in different films, even though I did not recognise them at first. I think it is the actors and the wonderful cinematography that made this film looks better than its story. People put their recipe in a book and publish them or make the videos and release online, but I think this kind of film is definitely would make lot impact on, even for the non-food lovers to have a close look which would generate a serious desire and hunger. Just like 'The Ramen Girl', but not as good as this one. A film that preserves a precious dish digitally and makes reach corners of the world.

By now you know that I loved it, but there's something I did not like from it which is the third act. Actually, that final act was a bit drag. Compared to the earlier sections, those last 20 or so minutes were quite an unnecessary stretch. I am an easy prey to sentimental scenes, but for this film I did not feel a thing. Other than that, how it all ended pretty neatly wrapped which I applaud loudly.

Whatever I said all the good and bad stuffs about it, there are some other topics as well in it which came as a side message, but that overtook everything on the final stage and ended as it was the centre of the story like that about treating an older person with disability. I had said many times before in my earlier reviews that I easily fall for seeing the old people suffering which happened in this. So heartbreaking. Except a very few defects that affected me which might won't make a big deal for others, I recommend the film, especially for the drama fans and food lovers.

8/10

Heart-wrenching

[Drusca · 7/10 · 16 August 2018]

Yes, as others write, it's quite sentimental, and slightly didactic, but it isn't so in a corny way. The pain and moral dilemmas it portrays are very relatable and at times almost too much too bear. Maybe it's just that I find depictions of kind and lonely old folks very touching. Speaking of, Kirin Kiki's performance is brilliant. She's the real deal. She was so convincing that I actually checked if she was someone who had suffered from leprosy. This is a film in the tradition of Kurosawa's 'Ikiru'. There is even a sort of key moment in the film where Tokue uses the phrase 'ikiru' (to live).

so simple so good

[Hombredelfuturo · 8/10 · 6 March 2017]

...after ten minutes or so I knew that this film was worth to watch. the actors; the pace; the cinematography showing all those sakura trees were perfect.

No doubt that Kirin Kiki is the movie herself but Masatoshi Nagase with his silence and sad face works for me too. Of course to have a good script and director sure help a lot but they captured the mood the right way.

Sometimes we cannot do or see the simply things because life gets on us; sometimes we have the problem; in our minds, souls or bodies. Life is so good for many but a pain for many others too; so depends on what side of the coin you are to live a full one; however, the script is telling us that if you are one that carry one of these big problems better to try to take the best out of you and do it the best possible way without fall too deep. You know, there s no choices, until dead comes...

Kyara Uchida is the third important character here; her roll is a shy but independent teenager that are somewhat on her own due to her mother does not act as one.

In real life she is the granddaughter of Kirin Kiki.

The taste of 'an'

[tenshi_ippikiookami · 7/10 · 25 March 2017]

"Sweet Bean" is a small, reflective movie that depicts the relationship between a guy working at a dorayaki shop, a sweet filled with 'an' (the reason for its original title), an old lady that appears out of nowhere and tries to convince him to employ her at his shop, and a young high school student who has her own problems with her family. Little by little, they become close to each other, a bond is created and they get a glimpse into their respective pasts.

Naomi Kawase normally does slow-burning movies, with a relaxed atmosphere, long takes and centering on the actors and their exchanges. "Sweet Bean" is not an exception and the actors answer with great performances all around (even sometimes histrionic Kirin Kiki, here very tone down and contemplative). The plot may seem simple, but it has different layers, which will grip the viewer, making them not only enjoy, but also think.

There are a couple of shaky points, though. First, the pace suffers in some moments, being a little bit brusque, some plot developments a little bit out of the blue. The second is that the last act is a little bit overlong and/or in-your-face.

"Sweet Bean" will be enjoyed by everyone. And make you hungry.

A different perspective on the main themes of the movie

[eric_polgar · 8/10 · 5 September 2016]

Sweet Bean (2015) : I read the reviews, how very different perceptions about the same story:

I read the reviews, how many and very different perceptions about the same story can you get?

I really liked the film and therefore I wanted to get a clearer idea of the main themes that the book and the film stand for. What I found was a big array of different perceptions about what the film was about. Myself, I am of the opinion that the older one was a wise master of life that was trying to give some of her beautiful wisdom to the other two characters, not so much because she could provide that 'society outsider' perspective but because life put her on the road to meet and change the life of the other two. I think the older woman didn't even need the job as a cook but this job was just the excuse for her getting close to the chef (or cook, whatever) so that he would actually be the one that gained from his own act of kindness. The girl also finds out that she has to do what is in her heart and to enjoy her freedom and her limited time on earth. She also learns that if she really loves something, she has to let it go so that it (or her) can also be free like her bird was at the end. Anyway, the deeper message comes at the end, when she simply resumes the main Buddhist's ideas that we are all one and we should forget the self and go with the flow, life's and nature's flow and to be surprised with everything that happens to us each and every day because in a way, it all happens for a reason and the path that brought these things to us, started a long time ago, on their own, on their path to meet us, at the exact time and place where we should have met them, known them, love them or lost them.

we learn more than making bean paste

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 10 February 2021]

Sentauro (Masatoshi Nagase) runs a food stand in Japan. Tokue (Kirin Kiki) wants to show him how to make a really good sweet bean paste to put in the doriyaki. there's very detailed info on both the pancakes and the sweet paste at wikipedia dot org. Tokue stops and smiles a lot... she seems to have an almost child-like appreciation of beauty and wondrous things. and how things relate to each other... even the ingredients of the food she's preparing. some similarities to "Tampopo", from 1985. during the Turner Classic introduction, we learn that the little girl "Wakana" ( Kyara Uchida) is actually played by the real grand-daughter of Kirin Kiki (Tokue). the two of them learn all kinds of things from each other. directed by Naomi Kawase. Story by Durian Sukegawa. it's very good! and it won TONS of film festival awards. Very sweet story. like her bean paste. Turner Classics rarely shows a movie that was made so recently, so it must have something!

Slow and Sentimental

[BNester · 5/10 · 6 June 2016]

I seldom look at my watch during a movie, but I looked at it a lot in this one. Very slow scenes. You could doze off at the beginning of a scene (say, someone walking down a country lane), and wake up to find the scene hasn't finished. You'll doze off often in this film.

And for what? The photography is nice, and the actors are fine. But the whole thing is like an oversweet pancake wrapped around a sentimental core of bean paste, delivering the message that society's rejects still have something to teach us, and that we shouldn't shun those who are different from us. Gee whiz. You could get the same message in an episode of Sesame Street, and have a lot more fun.

A subtle heartfelt gem of a movie

[vilovian · 9/10 · 14 August 2020]

Sweet Beans contains the best aspects of what I love about Asian cinema. Poignant moments of emotion without too much dialogue or upfront exposition. It's not a perfect film but it is close. If you like "Shoplifters" or "House of Hummingbird" than I think you will like this.

Sweetened to Taste...

[poe-48833 · 10/10 · 27 October 2016]

SWEET BEAN caught me totally by surprise: I rented it because it looked like another interesting drama with perhaps a hint of humor and just a pinch of sadness. It was all of these things and more: the twist was so shocking that it gave me pause. (Although I've written horror stories and even created a black and white comic book character thus afflicted, one seldom sees a disease like this given the Feature Film treatment.) The performances are all sound and the direction is exactly what one would expect from a "foreign" film director (as opposed to American film directors, most of whom seem to be unable to do anything more than slick Big Screen COMMERCIALS).

Beautiful, but very sentimental.

[j-m-d-b · 7/10 · 15 February 2016]

This movie tells the story of a man who bakes pastries for a living, selling them in a street-side shop that he does not own. Struggling with his past, he is unhappy. One of his few friends is a schoolgirl, who herself is troubled by a difficult relationship with her mother. One day an elderly woman appears and a beautiful friendship blossoms between the three of them, enriching all of their lives.

The film is deliberately slow paced and quite soft. If you are even the least bit prone to getting emotional while watching films you will cry, I did. The old woman especially has a heartbreaking story, more so because it is based on actual history. Like you might expect from a Japanese movie the aesthetic value is very high.

The only small gripe I have with the movie is that it is very, very sentimental; I would have preferred it turned down a notch. But maybe that's just because like the main male character in the story, I like sweet, but not too sweet.

Fantastic Wee Film

[miki-watt72 · 10/10 · 9 December 2018]

I woke up and this film was on TV. I watched it for about 40 minutes and was gripped but knew I couldn't stay awake so pressed record as wanted to see how it ended, so glad that I did that. Unfortunately the tv had the title of the movie as a totally different film and I had to search the casts members names to bring me here. I watched it fully the next day and loved every minute of it. Definitely a wee film to see.

Touching

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 23 December 2020]

A film that made me want to eat a dorayaki, look up into the trees and see their gentle poetry, and value the people around me because time is so short. Beautiful cinematography and strong performances, especially from 72-year-old Kirin Kiki. It's a tad slow at times but always heartfelt. The love and care put in to those adzuki beans, the respect for the people around us even if they are vulnerable and "all have a story," and the attention to the little things in life - it all harmonizes in a way that's undeniable. A touching work from Naomi Kawase, and a near miss for a higher rating.

Last wish granted at last

[wurideflame · 9/10 · 3 April 2021]

An old woman at the end of her life wishes to use her best skills and a stranger helps her to make her wish come true .After watching this film, my feelings were both touched and at peace.

Pay Attention!

[boblipton · 7/10 · 26 November 2020]

Masatoshi Nagase runs a dorayaki shop -- a dorayaki is a Japanese sweet of two small pancakes with red bean paste between. Kirin Kiki comes in one day when the cherry trees are blossoming and applies for a part-time job. When she finally gets it, she looks with horror at the paste he uses, a thin jelly that comes in three-gallon tins. She comes in to make the paste from scratch, a laborious, time-consuming process that seems to involve her listening to the beans as they soak. Suddenly, when he opens the doors, he is astonished to see crowds standing patiently in line the the pastries. But there are problems. The young girl he gives the botched pancakes to runs away from home; Miss Kiki turns out to be a leper; and Nagase himself bears a sadness.

It's hard to say what the points the film's director, Naomi Kawase, wishes to emphasize. Perhaps that's clearer in the novel it was based on. Is it having an actual goal or purpose in life, whatever it may be? The need to care for someone and be cared? The life of the cherry trees that line the street of the dorayaki shop? While the film takes its time drawing the audience's attention to these, with the hesitantly spoken dialogue and the leisurely bouts of dialogue-free acting, shots of the moon and the rush of wind, there's never any clear answer.... but there's plenty of handsomely shot images to look at and characters to learn somethng about.

Beautiful, sensistive, the best of Japan

[guisreis · 10/10 · 14 May 2021]

So beautiful, sensitive and poetic film about feelings, prejudice, deepness, empathy, friendship. Also one of the very best films about food ever made. The best of Japanese cinema (my favourite Japanese movie so far) aims on simplicity, on listening to the nature, on being careful and precise, delicate, just as we expect from Japan, but with no stereotype. Filming is great, script is deep and simple, and all actors do a fantastic job. Particularly, Kirin Kiki had a top level performance as if she graciously levitated above mortals, and Masatoshi Nagase portrayed grief and severity with truth. Well, now... where can I find a dorayaki?! 😋🍘🎌

bean paste, leprosy, and learning to live again

[LunarPoise · 6/10 · 19 March 2016]

The manager of a small pancake stall finds his product is suddenly a neighbourhood sensation after an old woman shows up and changes his recipe. But old prejudices rear their head to scupper short-lived happiness.

This is a relatively prosaic outing for writer-director Kawase, a film that eschews the lyricism and frustratingly enigmatic self-orientalising tropes of Moe no Suzaku or Mogari no Mori, for a greater concern with narrative cause-and-effect. Masatoshi Nagase is suitably brooding and mysterious as the weary manager of the stall, tolerant if not indulgent of the inane chatter of schoolgirls who occupy his workplace like a clubhouse. Kirin Kiki is her usual charismatic and maverick self, managing to bring humanity and pathos to a role that could easily have been cloying and maudlin. The storyline of the older women bringing hope to a man with a crushing past works well, Tokue proving a catalyst to stop the manager going through the motions and start living again. The film also functions as an educational piece on the discrimination historically meted out to sufferers of Hansen's disease, or leprosy, in Japan. This part is less effective, following the well-worn trope of having a schoolkid come along so the adults can relate the hidden history she knows nothing about. Heavy-handed and flat, it ill-serves the narrative, and slightly trivializes an ugly but fascinating aspect of Japan's social history.

Kawase does not totally leave behind her shamanistic/animistic leanings: there are the usual hand-held shots of sunlight glinting through treetops, and some cod-philosophy on the power of the moon. She hones excellent performances from Kirin and especially Nagase, whose edges seem all too brittle and authentic. A small film with a big heart, that makes a quiet but powerful point.

Another winner!

[MovieIQTest · 31 March 2018]

"Sweet Bean" pancakes are one of the most mouth-watering sweet snacks in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. And again, Kirin Kiki, played an alarmingly superb role in this little film, a film so simple yet so profoundly great.

Kirin Kiki should be included in all the textbooks about "Performing Art" studies. If you like to be an actor, a great one, no matter what age group you belong, study her exotic performances in those films she'd appeared, then you might get something really important about the art of performing.

Interesting portrait, but movie bogs down terribly

[evening1 · 4/10 · 12 February 2021]

I enjoyed meeting Tokue (Kirin Kiki), an artist in the mode of Babette of the exquisite food movie "Babette's Feast" (1987).

The sequence in which she tutors Sentaro (Masatochi Nagase) in the subtleties of making sweet-bean paste is amazing to behold.

Tokue is a 76-year-old widow on the wane, but she maintains a lovely ability to savor cherry blossoms and other wonders of nature. She reminded me of the similarly faded but inspired heroine of "Poetry," a much stronger film from Korea (2010).

Nagase is a good-looking, middle-aged presence in the film, but I found his part to be seriously underwritten. We spend too much time watching him brooding and smoking, often, inexplicably, in the company of the sailor-suited, depressed high-school girl Wakana (Kayara Uchida). I never understood why. Ms. Uchida's part is even worse-written than Nagase's, and way too much screen time is given to her.

This film brings a sociological interest to the history of lepers in Japan, and these segments seem unnaturally spliced onto the rest of the saga.

It's too bad. Tokue is a highly unusual personality. Much, much more could have been made of her unique character.