Country:Japan
Runtime:120 min
Released:06 Jun 2009
Plot: Urutora mirakuru rabu sutori 2009 Written and directed by Satoko Yokohama in her second feature, Bare Essence of Life is the story of 25 year old Yojin Kenichi Matsuyama, a farmer in the rural village in the Aomori prefecture on the island of Honshu Yojin is different, very different Prone to strange outbursts, throwing things, repeating words and phrases, and wildly disconnected thoughts, something has gone wrong in his wiring Combining black comedy with fantasy and a little romance and drama thrown in to stir the pot, Bare Essence in its literal translation Ultra Miracle Love Story carves out a niche all of its own and shows enough raw talent to warrant a close watch of this director This goofy but often brilliant film had many in the Vancouver Film Festival audience scratching their heads in disbelief and some heading for the exits, but most seemed to be having a good time As the film opens, Yojin wakes up to the ring of half a dozen alarm clocks, glances at the white board in his room where he records his daily schedule, then ventures out to begin his day helping his grandmother Misako Watanabe grow and sell products from her organic vegetable garden Though often with poor results, the boy follows instructions from a tape left him by his deceased grandfather no mention is made about his parents Life is uneventful, however, until Machiko Kumiko Aso, a new teacher, arrives from Tokyo to teach nursery school We soon learn that the attractive teacher has come to this rural area to forget the death of her boyfriend Kanake in a car accident in which he was driving with another lover The story is that his head was severed and landed somewhere on a roof and Machiko consults the local medium to see if there has been any word from his spirit Yojin is immediately drawn to Machiko and wants desperately for her to like him but quite naturally, she is a bit frightened by him, especially when he tries to pull her out of her classroom through an open window He loves the children, however, all non professional actors recruited from the local school, and they respond to him as well One day, while playing with a young boy in his garden, he discovers that being sprayed with pesticide makes him calm and his mind clear This also makes him more appealing to Machiko so he continues to spray himself with pesticide, ignorant of the potential consequences to his health Though Yojins outbursts are definitely off putting, Matsuyama is an outstanding actor who makes the oddball character sensitive and appealing As the relationship between Yojin and Machiko progresses, we also hear ideas about the state of humanitys evolution, our ties to nature, and the health hazards of the spraying of pesticides on our crops Yokohama has said in an interview that she wanted to create a film in which people were liberated from the conventions society imposes since too many people hold themselves together at the expense of expressing their vitality and freedom To that end, she has endowed her film with a free spirited exuberance and enough miracles and surprises to hold us until the Second Coming If she believes that people will only continue to evolve when they are free, open, and stimulated, Bare Essence of Life may point the way to a new beginning
More Movies on AZMovies
Isoppu no Omou Tsubo (2019)
Isoppu no Omou Tsubo 2019 Shy and self conscious Miwa attends university, goes home, studies and converses with her turtle Saori in contrast is an entitled daughter of a rich and somewhat idolized family Koyuzu is in the family business conducting shady business out of their offices The agency gets
Big Bugs 3D (2013)
From the mass migration of monarch butterflies to the stag beetle tournaments the most spectacular stories on more than four legs
Pucked (2006)
Pucked (2006) Frank Hopper (Bon Jovi) is a former lawyer, long-term loser and constant dreamer - and frankly, probably just not all that bright. When he receives a credit card in the mail, he believes he's hit the jackpot. It's not long before he's working his way toward financing his dream - an all
Konga TNT (2020)
Konga TNT (2020) After becoming injected with a formula derived from an alien ship, a lab gorilla escapes from his containment and befriends two young boys. The alien formula causes the gorilla to grow to ...
Who Can Kill a Child? (1976)
Who Can Kill a Child? (1976) A couple of English tourists rent a boat to visit the fictitious island of Almanzora, just off the southern Spanish coast. When they arrive, they find the town deserted of adults, there's only children who don't speak but stare at them with eerie smiles. They soon discov
Only One Way (2014)
Abandoning his conservative upbringing, a young man runs wild at college When he hits bottom, deliverance comes through a young woman who draws him home to the truth and the path to real joy in life
The Devils Hand (2014)
The Devils Hand (2014) When young girls start to go missing within a religious cult, older followers fear a long-told prophecy while the younger members suspect abusive elders are killing them off.
Breach (2020)
Breach (2020) On the cusp of fatherhood, a junior mechanic aboard an interstellar ark to New Earth must outwit a malevolent cosmic terror intent on using the spaceship as a weapon.
Batman: Assault on Arkham 2014
Batman works desperately to find a bomb planted by the Joker while Amanda Waller hires her newly formed Suicide Squad to break into Arkham Asylum to recover vital information stolen by the Riddler.
Flatwoods (2022)
Flatwoods 2022 Based on true events, a small group of children and a mother had a close encounter of the third kind in 1952 in Flatwoods, West Virginia, with an alien that became known as The Flatwoods Monster The small town has never been the same since with the case receiving national attention De
Razzennest (2022)
Razzennest 2022 South African enfant terrible filmmaker and artiste cineaste Manus Oosthuizen meets with Rotten Tomatoes approved indie film critic Babette Cruickshank in an Echo Park sound studio With key members of Manuss crew joining, they r
Portrait of Jocelyn (1956)
Portrait of Jocelyn (1956) Mark Halliday takes his wife to an art gallery, to show her a painting he has purchased for their first anniversary. But instead of the painting he had seen, he is given a portrait of his first wife Jocelyn, who disappeared five years ago. Both he and his new wife are shoc
Mommys Little Star (2022)
Mommys Little Star 2022 Follows 12 year old Olivia, who becomes a social media star in order to impress her mother, but her moms new boyfriend intends more than just help manage her career, and throws her into a world of betrayal, jealousy, and even mur
Dance Dreams Hot Chocolate Nutcracker (2020)
Dance Dreams Hot Chocolate Nutcracker 2020 Behind the scenes at the Debbie Allen Dance Academy and their award winning version of The Nutcracker, which blends a variety of dance traditions
Daylight Robbery (2008)
Alex masterminds an ambitious plan to steal millions of untraceable cash that is stacked in the underground vaults of The London Exchange Bank, waiting for its last journey, Incineration. Lucky, Matty, Terry, Chubby, Norman and Jay make up his unlikely gang of robbers. Setting up their alibi, the ga