Hanagatami

2017

2h 48m

Drama

List

92%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

100%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Shortly before World War II, a teenager returns to the coastal town of Karatsu from Amsterdam to stay with his aunt, where he and the neighborhood kids are absorbed into the chaos of the times.

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

... the feverish, hallucinatory period dream "Hanagatami," feels like the therapeutic art Obayashi himself needed to make after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis at 80.

Jul 15, 2021

Full Review

Siddhant Adlakha

Village Voice

It's ultimately a cautionary plea to avoid the perils of the past, in the form of an auteurist fever dream.

Jul 18, 2018

Full Review

Deborah Young

Hollywood Reporter

Nearly three hours of dense story-telling roll by while a sprawling and vividly drawn cast of characters explore young love and the meaning of life.

Jun 22, 2018

Full Review

Chase Burns

The Stranger (Seattle, WA)

My main gripe is that I don't like the lead actor, Shunsuke Kubozuka, but, regardless, it's a chewy piece, and we'll dissect it for a long time.

Dec 8, 2021

Full Review

Diane Carson

KDHX (St. Louis)

At two points, it is noted that images are seen through the wrong end of a telescope, with the assertion that "it's not nostalgia. It's heartache for all that's lost." For me, that became apparent long before the film's drawn out conclusion.

Sep 22, 2021

Full Review

Pat Padua

Spectrum Culture

Although his subject is youth, these are autumnal works, a spirited eye tempered with the wisdom of a long life.

Rated: 80/100

Jul 29, 2021

Full Review

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Audience Member

Surreal and straight up beautiful!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Nobuhiko Ôbayashi

Director

Shunsuke Kubozuka

Toshihiko Sakakiyama

Toshihiko Sakakiyama

Ukai

Keishi Nagatsuka

Kira

Tokio Emoto

Aso

Honoka Miki

Mina Ema

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Synopsis

Shortly before World War II, a teenager returns to the coastal town of Karatsu from Amsterdam to stay with his aunt, where he and the neighborhood kids are absorbed into the chaos of the times.

Director: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi
Producer: Terumichi Yamazaki
Screenwriter: Nobuhiko Ôbayashi, Chiho Katsura
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Japanese
Runtime: 2h 48m

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