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Movies / On DVD / Cafe Lumiere
Cafe Lumiere

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Cafe Lumiere (2004)

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Reviews Counted:17

Fresh:16

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.1/10

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: Hou Hsiao-Hsien, one of China's greatest filmmakers, honors the memory of the great Yasujiro Ozu in the beautiful CAFÉ LUMIERE. Like Ozu, Hou tries to capture honesty and reality in the film, which... Hou Hsiao-Hsien, one of China's greatest filmmakers, honors the memory of the great Yasujiro Ozu in the beautiful CAFÉ LUMIERE. Like Ozu, Hou tries to capture honesty and reality in the film, which stars pop idol Yo Hitoto as Yoko, a young woman who makes her way through life almost casually, not letting anything get her too upset or too excited. She regularly visits Hajime (Tadanobu Asano) at his small bookstore, where he orders books and CDs especially for her; she has a particular interest in the Chinese composer Jiang Ewn-Ye. She returns home to visit her stepmother (Kimiko Yo) and father (Nenji Kobayashi), who care about her and love her but never take interest in her life. In fact, the characters in the film prefer superficial relationships, that may have some meaning but are not very deep. Yoko seems happiest, or at least most at home, when she's on a train, heading somewhere else; she's never quite content in the moment itself. Hou's film is gorgeous to watch, with long, well-framed shots featuring natural sound and lighting. The story plays out slowly, mimicking real life, with little artifice. There are no big crescendos or dirty secrets unfolding, just a charming, compelling tale about everyday characters doing everyday things. [More]

Starring: Yo Hitoto, Tadanobu Asano, Masato Hagiwara, Yo Kimiko

Starring: Yo Hitoto, Tadanobu Asano, Masato Hagiwara, Yo Kimiko, Nenji Kobayashi

Director: Hou Hsaio-Hsien

Director: Hou Hsaio-Hsien
Screenwriter: Chu Tien-Wen
Producer: Ichiro Yamamoto, Fumiko Osaka, Hideshi Miyajima, Ching-Sung Liao
Composer: Yo Hitoto

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Dec 27, 2005

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Cafe Lumiere

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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You don't take this journey for the bends in the road, but the fleeting sights along the way make it memorably rewarding.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
12/30/07
Jeffrey Overstreet
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

Rather than go the trivial route of aping Ozu's style and storytelling, [Hou] uses the techniques he's honed to create his own take on the state of Japan's ever increasing modernity.

Full Review Source: Window to the Movies | comment Comment
09/21/06
Jeffrey Chen
Jeffrey Chen
Window to the Movies

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Empire Magazine

Framing the visual haphazardness of urban streets in exquisite, dense, Shiko-like scroll paintings, Hou demonstrates how even in a megalopolis life is lived on a human scale, one day, one person at a time.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
03/19/06
Les Wright
Les Wright
culturevulture.net

A tribute to Yasujiro Ozu that can be seen as one film great saluting another from a different culture and time period.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
03/10/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out

Like all Hou films, viewers will want to ponder Cafe Lumiere and its many layers well after this year's Oscars have come and gone.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
01/21/06
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Both Hou and Ozu excel in evoking the poetry of everyday life, and, as a tribute from one great filmmaker to another, Cafe Lumiere should richly satisfy devotees of both artists.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
01/19/06
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
12/17/05
Boston Phoenix

The film often takes on the hypnotic rhythm of a dream.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
12/02/05
Ted Fry
Ted Fry
Seattle Times
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
07/15/05
Zach Hines
Zach Hines
PopMatters

The film looks for small connections and fragments of significance in the comings and goings of everyday life.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
06/21/05
Leo Goldsmith
Leo Goldsmith
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Hou's sensitivity plus Ozu's inspiration equals sublimity of sight and sound.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
06/16/05
David Sterritt
David Sterritt
Christian Science Monitor

Hou fans will find what they're looking for; others will wonder when the action starts.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/10/05
Jay Weissberg
Jay Weissberg
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An original work by a filmmaker who throughout his career has absorbed the best of what Ozu had to teach, and as such it stands as beautiful tribute from one master to another.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/10/05
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Although pegged as an author of contemplative mood pieces, Hou's originality as a filmmaker has much to do with both his handling of historical material and his daringly counterintuitive narrative structures.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
05/31/05
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The plot may be almost non-existent, but who cares when a film is both this serenely beautiful and quietly insightful.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
05/31/05
Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
BBC

A fascinating curiosity, a chance to witness one major filmmaker paying tribute to another in the form of a rigorously minor film.

comment Comment
05/14/05
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[This Ozu homage] is revealing and enlightening, but unlike Ozu's work, this is also somewhat dull and uninvolving.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
11/08/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
 
 
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