Whilst digging about through the Toronto Film Festival schedule today Cafe Lumiere stuck in my head as being somehow important but I couldn’t quite place why until I came across this site.
Cafe Lumiere is the latest film from acclaimed director Hou Hsiao-Hsien, the acclaimed Taiwanese director of Millenium Mambo. Hsiao-Hsien is a apparently a huge admirer of Yasujiro Ozu and to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Ozu’s birth he travelled to Japan to make a film in Ozu’s style with an entirely Japanese cast. Hey look! One of those cast members is the nearly ubiquitous Tadanobu Asano, whom I love and whose presence just vaulted this onto my must-see list. To make things even better it also happens to be shot by one of the cinematographers who worked on the visually sumptuous In The Mood For Love.
For some strange reason the Japanese website includes a full english version – and I mean full, absolutely everything is translated – that’s well worth taking a look at. Or you can just check out the beautifully shot trailer here.
Kôhî jikô РCafé Lumière
This delightful and profund film mirrors, touches and crosses the life of a young, determinate woman. Musical as a song, it vibrates through the images of a busy, metropolitan Japan. Intense as life of every day, it glimpses at Yoko’s passionate work of research, her parents’ affection, the warmth of an unconventional friendship with Hajime, the colorful miniature-flat she lives in. Cafes, places, trains, more than words, reveal Yoko’s calm reaction to an unespected pregnancy.