A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (2016) User Reviews

Haru Kuroki is fabulous. Iwai should have found a couple actors to support her.

[sitenoise · 6/10 · 20 September 2016]

The first scene brought rain to the edges of my eyes. I'm a sucker for these depictions of Zenly enduring, kind and capable, ultra-feminine baby-talking pillars of strength Japanese women. Haru Kuroki nails it immediately and I know what I'm in for: *This Charming Girl* level character painting, only Japanese, which is better. Kuroki is humiliated from several angles and perseveres. Her world falls apart big and fast, culminating in a slow motion walk along the river pushing two suitcases accompanied by major melodramatic music to end the first act, at about the one hour mark. I hadn't noticed the soundtrack up to this point (which is a good thing, I think), but this scene is gigantic. It blew me away in its stylish gutsiness, I had to pause the film and catch my breath. I was fist pumping the air at how good this was going, already looking to place the film in the pantheon of great Japanese cinema.

In retrospect, the film should have ended right there, crescendo'd to the heavens, leaving me frustrated in love, begging for more. My two highest rated Iwai films are Undo and April Story, at 47 and 67 minutes respectively. Just sayin'.

So I come back to the flick and Kuroki's on a phone call, and then she starts walking again to big music. This time it feels obnoxious, Kurosawa-esque, and the film starts falling apart quickly.

Bottom line: you know an actor is in trouble when he brings gimmick to every scene. Big complicated shoes, eating-acting, fashion mistakes above his pay grade, chewing gum. Gô Ayano is terrible here, looking for accents or spices to give his character some flavor, and becomes a constant distraction for the rest of the film.

Cocco isn't an actress. She a majorly intense personality. A couple big name directors highlighted her strengths in films about her. Iwai calls upon her to act, and drives the film off into the weeds making Acts II and III about her. She's Rip Van Winkle.

In Acts II and III, the slumber party style scenes go on way too long. The music is ridiculous in trying to add some whoopy-whoopy to nothingness. Go-go Man irritates in his attempt to be someone cool like Brad Pitt.

Iwai does Iwai very well. He has a mature mark, but doesn't unpack his stories well. I don't even know what I'm watching any more. Too many people giving too many long winded speeches, trying to find a poignancy even if it's not going to be quiet. All things lead to an embarrassing scene with Cocco's mother, after a confusingly scripted denouement (what did she know and when did she know it) spoils any chance of redemption. Quiet poignancy made a few appearances but never took over.

Paranoia ...

[sohrab_mar · 6/10 · 13 February 2019]

I cant recommend this movie . The movie goes on in an untrusrable environment and you do not know if any one is acting real ... Real life is never like this and you can manage to recognize true from void... This movie seemingly is mixed with paranoia and phsyosis or similar terms ...

An amazing experience

[deea_dark_angel98 · 10/10 · 28 September 2018]

I didn't know what to think when I started this film. I had to take a break, because it has 3 hours and there was too much emotion for me to take in. A lot of people seem to complain about the story, but I believe it's the strongest point of the film. The writer didn't give you anything on a plate, you have to figure out things on your own, kind of like in real life, you don't actually know what's going on through someone's mind or what their motives are. People have different ways of thinking and so the weird choices made my some characters are not random, and might make sense if there was more in depth analysis of that character in the film. This was a great experience and an amazing film. Everything is great from the actors to the story and cinematography.

Successfully capture the culture of emotion/identity suppression in Japan and the younger generation may reach the breaking point.

[alienialapine · 9/10 · 6 August 2016]

"It's so difficult to be naked!" cried Amuro, the mysterious *villain* like character in "Bride for Rip Van Winkle".

Yes, in this world, we are always living under others' values. Those *others* love to attack you with their values without mercy. In Asian culture, this can be even worse. You may find less respects on people's life. Especially for the *elders*, who always have rights to criticize the *youngsters*. Traditional values always need to win, new values are always suppressed until it gets to the point to break through all the walls. However, lots of us prefer to be passive and live in our own shells.

Not surprisingly, internet thus becomes so popular in Asia. Even in country like China where Internet censorship and surveillance has tightly implemented, a large population of netizens are easily spotted out there. It's just because people need a way out! They need their own space and supporters. And, they need to speak out for themselves.

Although many lies exist in the viral reality, we probably still find truth and beauties there. And going beyond that, we find who we really are and whom we really need.

Unexpected and unpredictable, u can't predict the end before last 30 minutes

[monyetndut · 9/10 · 28 May 2017]

I'm not put any interest while watching this, but after 30 minutes everything changes. The duration is longer than I thought, but it's worth watching. Great Cinematography. Sooooo natural.

Spoiler alert! The devil win, i don't know this spoiler or not, because u'll never understand if u are not watching this movie first. Watch this because of ayano san, his acting in this movie is super natural. I wanna kill his character but at the same time love him to. He is devil with porcelain face, work perfectly without notice. And his victim has been tricked all the time, and she never knows even at the end. I thought amuro san(ayano san) flirt nanami and being lover, never happen tho. But thats better because if they're together the movie just tastes romance, and that's not good. Need part 2 and see the next target of amuro san. Money is the key and amuro will do everything for every job that you give, that what i get from this movie. I cried at the end and still can't decided amuro san is pure evel or so

the downside of a proper upbringing

[StanfordCollins · 14 August 2021]

When well-intentioned parents coddle their children, the children may have difficulty fending for themselves after leaving the family rose garden. This film depicts the travails of a naive young woman who faces the world alone after her protective bubble bursts. Her story is structured in two parts. In the first the heroine Nanami seamlessly continues her comfortable middle class life after finishing college, but then loses her husband and her job. Uprooted and displaced, in the second part she broadens her social exposure, and for the first time experiences the intense union of passionate love, with a nonconformist woman of great personal integrity who is a law unto herself. Contrasts between part one and part two expose shortcomings of typical middle class child rearing and of passionless relationships, and reveal the potential for self-affirmation through our fundamental need to love.

Nanami speaks for many young adults who are ill-prepared to deal with reality. The film is psychologically insightful, emotionally eloquent, witty, moving, and executed on a high technical level. Acting is wonderful, brava brava Haru Kuroki and Cocco. Renaissance man Shunji Iwai proves himself to be at the pinnacle of auteurs. The connection between the music and Nanami's emotional states is so intimate that the film could be viewed as an interpretation of the music. For example, in part one Mozart's delicate and other-worldly Concerto for Flute and Harp mirrors the blissful innocence of one who is naively out of it. Part two begins with Bach's Air on the G String, solemn, melancholy, like a funeral march infused with tenderness and sympathy. It captures her dire state of helpless bewilderment and our compassion for a despairing soul. This film is in that tradition of Japanese cinema where enlightenment on important humanist issues was accomplished through empathy. There is much to appreciate for viewers who are interested in the existential crisis that can occur during the transition from a conventional middle class upbringing, to a sustainable path toward self-fulfillment as an adult.

Beautiful, cruel and almost surreal mix of 'Alice in Wonderland' with 'Dancing in the Dark', past in Tokyo these days.

[carlosfredericoabreu-39-264836 · 10/10 · 28 July 2017]

The innocent and delicate Nanami (Haru Kuroki) is about to marry Tetsuyo (Gô Jibiki), a traditional family boy she met in a chat-site. Nanami does not have family or friends to attend the rigid ceremonial and hires the services of Amuro (Gô Ayano), who has a company that provides (for a price) actors trained to act as their relatives. Now living a comfortable and submissive life, Nanami could become a housewife dedicated to trivial tasks if one day a stranger would not come to her claiming that her husband is cheating on her girlfriend. Even shaken, at first Nanami continues acting like nothing knew, but when the stranger threatens to kill Tetsuyo, she yields to the demands and will find him in a hotel. In fact, it is nothing more than a job paid for by his mother-in-law (and architect by Amuro) for the purpose of destroying his marriage. Without a job and without a place to live, Nanami must again look for the help of Amuro, who offers him a housekeeper job in a closed mansion, and, being Amuro who he is, nothing is what it seems to be. Japanese drama with an original story and excellent performances, mainly by Haru Kuroki, who plays a shy (and almost apathetic) girl, who as a piece without self-will is thrown from side to side by the interests of others, especially those orchestrated by the amoral (and supposedly his friend), Amuro. Great movie! Of those who stay with you for days.

Unexplained character motives

[skyboiyaj · 3/10 · 12 January 2017]

The visuals, cinematography, and acting were great. However, story was lackluster. The movie dares to have 4 stories drag in a 3 hour movie.

The main female protagonist starts off down on her luck with risk of unemployment. However she meets a man online, gets married, then (without spoiling the story) we never see him again in the film. The truth is never revealed why it concluded that way. This trend continues with the actress meeting people but we never find out who they really are and what their motives are. We spend 3 hours in a movie but we do not even know the characters or get character development. That's right, the main protagonist doesn't learn anything through her journey.

The music choice was beautiful, however it felt like a cop out since they used popular pre- composed music.

Engaging story of so many reflections in life

[plsletitrain · 31 July 2017]

The movie may be quite long, but it will hold your attention smoothly you won't realize the runtime. My point being: the story of the lead girl and the people she encounters is very engaging. Its like looking through a window to the life of someone dear to you.

A Bride for Rip Van Winkle isn't actually about Rip Van Winkle. Its about a young adult named Nanami whose roller-coaster of a life forces you to empathize with her. Rip Van Winkle does not enter until the second hour. Nanami had everything against her: a failed marriage, a broken family, no job. She sought refuge with a man named Amuro (Go Ayano) who stages acts, depending on the request of the client (he's like an actor-for-hire--but he has people working with him or for him too). The pivotal turn of the events happened when Amuro hired Nanami to become housemaid of a mansion, the owners thereof are untold. Rip Van Winkle is the internet name used by Mashiro (Cocco) a fellow actor-for-hire turned friend of Nanami. Turns out Mashiro was also a housemaid in said house. But that's not the only interesting thing about Mashiro. Her life is as interesting as that of Nanami. She has her own share of trials and then you get to empathize with her. An awkward lesbian love then ensues. I say awkward because there's something in Cocco's portrayals that kinda disturbes me. But that's just me. Anyway, the unfolding of subsequent events are dramatic. The ending is nothing but a good screen shot of a lady looking afar, probably reflecting of how her life has been and how it will be in the future.

The movie feels like so many things happened yet the simplicity of it all is retained. Its melodramatic but no extensive emotions are required.The pacing is fine-tuned. What made this movie more remarkable is its exploitation of piano pieces that jibe with the emotion of the film.

Sex, love, marriage and all of the above

[Kahuna-6 · 9/10 · 9 May 2020]

Porn sells. Yet it is treated with shame. Every one wants love. And it is fraught with all sorts of expectations. This movie doesn't provide any clarity on sex, marriage, friendship and kinship. But it sure asks us to look at them from another point of view.

It takes three hours The end is incomprehensible

[mohammedyousef · 4/10 · 26 April 2018]

I did not understand , there are many questions The film is very mysterious

not really 1/10 but seeing so many give this 10/10 i just have to rate it down

[jarharnamme · 1/10 · 27 June 2020]

For me rating should be around 4-5/10. the disconnect of the 1st half with 2nd half i thought there's some clever hidden scheme of why he did it to the main protagonist but we dont have an answer for that so it just remain the answer given "the mother made it" and...i should probably stop here not even bother spoil it but my advise is you guys better spend 3hrs doing other things than watching this movie. i regret watching this movie so badly now