Megane (2007)

Megane: Directed by Naoko Ogigami. With Satomi Kobayashi, Mikako Ichikawa, Ryô Kase, Ken Mitsuishi. Taeko is a stressed career woman who leaves her life in the city for an island vacation. The vacation does not become what she expected as everyone on the island is strange.

“Some newspaper critics dismissed this as a simplistic new-age fantasy about yuppies that want a break from their hurly-burly city lives. To me they seem to miss the point.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;m one of those people for whom form is much more important than story. Megane is really beautifully shot: the colours, the interiors, the food, the arrangement of the main actors in each frame and the timing of their movements are obviously designed with great care and precision. Yet there is a story here too. Itu0026#39;s not very complicated, but beautifully arched and perfectly paced. Like the best of classical music performances, if you make the effort to concentrate and connect you loose track of time and simply enjoy the here and now of the experience. Classical music doesnu0026#39;t u0026#39;meanu0026#39; anything either, or at least it can mean very different things to different persons.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe music in Megane, by the way, is often beautiful too (and sometimes downright weird). It doesnu0026#39;t dominate, but subtly supports key moments and adds a little spice. I particularly liked the occasional cello solo.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThereu0026#39;s little dialog dialog in the film, and the critics are right in saying that it isnu0026#39;t very profound (but occasionally very funny!). Sometimes though, more can be said by two people sitting silently in a quiet spot, watching a sunset and drinking the here and now than by the entire Iliad.”