Chitose no itohime (2017) User Reviews

Very low budget period drama

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 27 May 2017]

1000 YEAR PRINCESS is a very low budget period drama from Japan, overlong and made on an almost non-existent budget. Unfortunately this makes it something of a chore to sit through despite the best intentions of the writer and director. With a running time of two hours, this features incessant dialogue between multiple characters, lots of characterisation but barely anything in the way of a storyline, and endless tedium. It has effective trappings in terms of costumes and locations but in the end it's nothing more than a bore.

Aimless, pointless and ultimately offensive

[mjkarlin · 3/10 · 26 March 2019]

This misbegotten tale of revenge wanders around in a state of confusion until it limps, literally and figuratively, to an ending that will satisfy no one. Princess Ito, her protector Gengo, and her beloved servant Akane, together with the rest of her clan are destroyed by the vicious Uzu. 1,000 years later, in a nondescript Japanese town, the Uzu are still living, although by now barely, on the spoils, respected by all who have forgotten or never knew of their heinous beginnings. Meanwhile Ito and Gengo have been reincarnated as a meek wife and and her nasty abusive husband. The feckless Uzu scion tries to protect Ito, while the rest of the reincarnated members of Ito clan slowly, ever so slowly, gather to plot revenge, of which inexplicably, Gengo wants no part. Still with me? I suppose this set-up had possibilities, but not in the hands of the impoverished script and lumbering direction, not to mention the lugubrious cinematography and a synthesized score which may win a prize for inapposite music. Our heroine turns out to be another hapless victim - for goodness sake, it's 2017 and we might have hoped for a spark of spunk. I kept hoping for the movie to improve, to surprise, to entertain, to touch, just once, but I waited in vain. Instead, astonishingly, the movie tries to justify Gengo's behavior, with a logic that defies humanity.

I couldn't make it through

[hilary_mae-912-80561 · 1/10 · 20 November 2020]

I couldn't make it past 30 minutes. The princess character is horrid. Grown woman acting like a 3 year old, terrible actress and no need to go into the costumes by K-Mart.

1000 Year Princess

[frostbow · 7/10 · 8 June 2023]

1000 years ago, a rivalry fested between the Ito and Uzu clans. After a violent incident, the local "princess" Ito put a curse on Uzu Teruaki and his descendants. In modern day Japan, Ito and Teruaki were reincarnated to act out the conclusion of the curse.

This played out differently from what I had expected, and I was even unsure of the genre. After recently having been reminded of a genre called suspense, I think it fits in there. That is because there was a lingering feeling of fear and discomfort. Mostly because Ito had to suffer a lot during most of the movie.

In contrast to the dark plot themes, the setting was serene. While not exceedingly beautiful, the village was cozy, some of the villagers were very nice, and there was even a festival. Soothing guitar music was played during some scenes.

The acting during the historical scenes was theatrical and unnatural. Ito was a stupid brat, and Teruaki was horribly overplayed in one scene. Somehow the acting improved with the ages and was much better in the modern setting. There Ito was played superbly, expressing various emotions while struggling through her harsh life, and the other actors also did a good job.

This is an odd movie with uneven quality and some plot developments that almost made me angry. I'm unsure if I can even recommend it or to who, since the genre is diffuse. I don't know anyone that would obviously like this trash. All I know is that I'm somehow fascinated by many aspects of it, and that I have been thinking about it a lot.