★ 5 / 10
If this movie was like 20 or 30 minutes shorter, probably would of been great.
DarkSpotOn
Off the bet, this movie does not need to be 1 hour and 40 minutes long. We got two characters, that come from the same mother. However, the older one lacks…
Off the bet, this movie does not need to be 1 hour and 40 minutes long. We got two characters, that come from the same mother. However, the older one lacks social skills, isolated. While the other one lacks experience, and cutting things out of her life. The whole movie is just our two characters going through different stages of pain.I'll tell you that it is a depressing movie to watch. It's in no way "Disturbing", yet it's a very sad movie, like Requiem for a Dream. However, i got issues with this movie. The movie is extremely slow. It's nearly all just talking, there really isn't anything going on, that will push the movie forward. Instead, we have a super slow movie, with a interesting weird plot.I can not say that i enjoyed the movie, i found it to be a bit of a chore. But at the same time, i can not say that the movie is bad, because the movie really does a great job in portraying isolation, and how it feels to be out of the loop of humanity. The only happy thing about this movie is the ending, when both of our heroes cut off their issues and start a new chapter.I'll be honest, if this movie was like 1 hour and 20 minutes long, probably would of been even better. There are multiple scenes where nothing is going on, that could of been cut, and we'd have a better movie in my opinion. This movie is not bad, i can not say it's a bad movie, but it 's not incredible either.Also! I just forgot, the camera work in this is really bad. Like there is so many scenes in this movie where shaky cam is present. It makes the scenes look ugly. Camera work in this is not the best.Acting seems fine, plot i already talked about it a mixed bag. Music is solid. Ultimately if you can not handle slow movies, like Hunger or Requiem for a Dream or even the old classic Freaks, you probably won't enjoy this. As for me, it's a 50/50. I enjoyed it, but at the same time i kinda found it a bit too slow honestly.
★ 8 / 10
Don't let the odd idea of this keep you away. It's quality stuff.
sitenoise
You can't make films like this unless you have good actors. Makiko Watanabe is so good in roles like this, and Sakura Ando is always good. There are many…
You can't make films like this unless you have good actors.
Makiko Watanabe is so good in roles like this, and Sakura Ando is always good. There are many scenes of watching characters do nothing more than the mundane (or the weird, as in frolicking naked in the sea with a blow-up torso) -- if the actor seems like they are going through a checklist of motions, it will fail.
I got the sense I was observing these characters free from any notion a film was being made. Beyond that, Torso transforms itself into a wonderful character study as the torso deflates. Do yourself a favor, forget the odd Torso bit (it symbolizes blah blah, etc.) and watch two of Japan's best actresses play sisters with baggage. There may be limited appeal but Koreeda's cinematographer does a great job in his directorial debut.
