Maborosi

Released Sep 6, 1995

1h 49m

Mystery & Thriller

List

100%

24 Reviews

Tomatometer

83%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Despite her outwardly happy and tranquil life as a wife and new mother, Yukimo (Makiko Esumi) is regularly troubled by a horrific nightmare about the death of her grandmother. When tragedy strikes her husband, Ikuo (Tadanobu Asano), the stress forces Yukimo into hermit-like solitude until a kindly widower (Takashi Naitô) attempts to draw her from her shell. This is the first scripted film by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda, who had previously been been known for his documentaries.

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Critics Consensus

An understated examination of grief, Maboroshi is a deeply moving drama thanks to Koreeda's patient direction and achingly naturalistic performances by its impressive ensemble.

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Kathy D

Beautiful cinematography, but extremely slow with many long shots that seemed to go on and on. Many reviews say the main character was happy and in love with her 2nd husband, but I don't agree. She cared for that man, but was not in love with him, and not reconciled with her 1st first husband's suicide (if it was such) even at the end of the film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/03/23

Full Review

acsdoug D

Promising premise, but nothing really happens, not even any real drama. It's just a series of subdued and at times bleak set pieces that don't really go anywhere.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/09/23

Full Review

Alvise F

The delicacy with which Kore-eda approaches the theme of mourning is masterful. The depth that "Maboroshi" reaches with its natural simplicity is an exemplary proof of the talent and sensitivity of an author who from then on will be considered "the modern Ozu". From Ozu, in fact, he inherits the de-dramatization structure and the narrative ellipsis; but Kore-eda is also influenced by the approach to cinema of the Taiwanese Nouvelle Vague, particularly Hou Hsiao-hsien's work and the aesthetics of its intimacy. The protagonists move in the surrounding environment with a light and cautious step, as if suspended in the void, creating a subdued and melancholy ethereal world. The very few close-ups help to keep a discreet and gentle look on the characters who wander in a time and a space that seem to be the border between life and death. A parable about the frailty of time, which is realized, for example, in the allegorical figure of an alarm clock and a light bulb on a table, which is a perfect example of "mono no aware" (物の哀れ), the Japanese aesthetics that enhances the "pathos of things", or rather, the "empathy toward things". The dignified suffering is a muffled scream lost on the open sea.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/22/22

Full Review

Audience Member

I saw this movie in 1995 and It was the worst, there's a scene that nothings happens for what it seems to be ages. I love fine cinema, however this movie is just a waste of film.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

My favorite movie, I've watched it countless times. I'm a big Ozu and Fellini fan, and consider those two the best- but in Maborosi, Kore Eda matches them. It took years to fully appreciate this film, which goes very deep. This remains the most beautiful film I can think of, some scenes just jaw dropping in beauty and sensitivity. I've seen most of Kore Eda's films, and this, his first, beats them all. Stunning and sensitive, yet a portrait of ordinary life in most ways.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

ikiru y

As other reviewers have noted this is a very visual, artistic sort of movie. Not much character development or plot, more like snippets of life. A "tone poem." Beautiful to look at, but ultimately not very engaging. Very art house.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Hirokazu Koreeda

Director

Makiko Esumi

Yumiko

Takashi Naitô

Tamio

Tadanobu Asano

Ikuo

Midori Kiuchi

Michiko

Akira Emoto

Yoshihiro

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Mark Sinker

Sight & Sound

The camera rarely moves and yet there are images here as strikingly lovely as any you've seen and others as sweetly alive.

Apr 26, 2019

Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

It is a sombre and painful drama, enacted with reserve.

Rated: 4/5

Apr 24, 2019

Full Review

Bilge Ebiri

Village Voice

Each character moves and speaks differently, shining with the complex inner life of a real person with real needs, real memories, real thoughts.

Jul 21, 2018

Full Review

CJ Sheu

Critics at Large

It's a very Japanese understanding of suicide: as not bluntly tragic or a waste, but alluring, mysterious, not subject to total comprehension ... the state of grief itself.

Jun 30, 2020

Full Review

Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

A film of feelings and textures that establishes character without the need for traditional plot structures.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jun 3, 2019

Full Review

Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

Generally, this film engages more intellectually with emotion than Kore-eda's later more heartfelt work.

Rated: 3.5/5

May 2, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Despite her outwardly happy and tranquil life as a wife and new mother, Yukimo (Makiko Esumi) is regularly troubled by a horrific nightmare about the death of her grandmother. When tragedy strikes her husband, Ikuo (Tadanobu Asano), the stress forces Yukimo into hermit-like solitude until a kindly widower (Takashi Naitô) attempts to draw her from her shell. This is the first scripted film by Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda, who had previously been been known for his documentaries.

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Producer: Shigenobu Yutaka
Screenwriter: Yoshihisa Ogita, Teru Miyamoto
Distributor: Milestone Film & Video
Production Co: TV Man Union
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 6, 1995, Original
Runtime: 1h 49m