Cafe Lumiere

Cafe Lumiere
by Hsiao-hsien Hou

Cafe Lumiere
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Kimiko Yo, Masato Hagiwara, Nenji Kobayashi, Tadanobu Asano, Yo Hitoto
Director: Hsiao-hsien Hou
Brand: Wellspring Media INC
Cinematographer: Ping Bin Lee
Writer: Hsiao-hsien Hou
Editor: Ching-Song Liao
Producer: Ching-Song Liao
Producer: Fumiko Osaka
Producer: Hideji Miyajima
Producer: Ichirô Yamamoto
Writer: T'ien-wen Chu
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Japanese (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Fox Lorber
Product features:
  • One of today's greatest filmmakers, Hou Hsiao-hsien pays homage to one of the masters, Yasujiro Ozu, commemorating the centenary of Ozu's birth. In a residential Tokyo neighborhood, Yoko, a young freelance writer defies her strongly traditional parents with news that she is pregnant and has no desire to marry the father. She calmly accepts this reality and stoically deals with the worried

Movie Reviews of Cafe Lumiere

Movie Review: A Great Movie for Lovers of Cityscapes
Summary: 5 Stars

The story is about generational change. For example, the father, of the WWII generation, seems puzzled by the new Japan represented by his daughter's independence and carefree lifestyle. Still he quietly accepts the new ways of his daughter, who does not hold to the old animosities or cultural proprieties (though as independent as she is she is always courteous toward others, something often lacking in American culture).

The story has little in the way of plot. It's more like a cinematic stream of consciousness. I enjoy foreign films such as CAFE LUMIERE because they allow me to visit other cultures. Another movie I recently watched is Gigante, a movie set in Montevideo, Uruguay. It has a stronger plot, but both movies give you a slice of life from different cultures. They are not Hollywood-like movies in which the structure, polish and stars often conceal the everyday lived reality of people, places, and cultures depicted.

One of the things I enjoyed most in CAFE LUMIERE were the cityscapes--especially of the trains. I also enjoyed seeing how the Japanese sustain a cultural politeness and respect midst environments that are claustrophobically urbanized and ultramodern. They seem very much aware of the aesthetic created from being polite and considerate. So the film shows that beauty can be found in noisy, oppressive artificial environments that can even assault the senses with movement, congestion, noise, if one knows how to see it and especially how to hear it (the young man in the story is fascinated by the sounds of commuter trains).

Also I found the special features quite interesting and informative. If you are looking for a strong story, then this movie may not be for you. If you think you might enjoy a cinematic poem featuring a slice of life in Tokyo and its outskirts, you just may enjoy the film as much as I did.

Summary of Cafe Lumiere

CAFE LUMIERE - DVD Movie
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