A good romantic story that thankfully relies on intruiging acting and chemistry, not a script

Rating: Null/10 (13 March 2004)

A very good romantic movie that doesn't follow the typical genre.
The story addresses the lives of two married people, isolated not only from other people who speak English (it all takes place in a hotel in Tokyo), but isolated in their own marriages on some emotional level. Their drifting "lost"-ness leads them into an emotional rapport & curiousity with each other that leads the viewer to wonder where the platonic vs. romantic line is drawn, if at all.
The performances are good, simple, and genuine, and as a viewer it is easy to identify with the characters' feelings of quiet personal despair, and with the excitement that something new (but risky) brings.
Undoubtedly the crowning strength of this movie is in its dialogue, and appropriate lack of it at times. It is refreshingly powerful to see actors use unspoken glances, eye contact, and body language to speak volumes without the need for an explicit script. Many other romantic movies fail in this regard by spelling everything out too obviously, and detaches the audience from true, realistic emotion. Not so here.
Without giving away the ending, I will say that the ending is what made this movie a great film. Anything other than how it ended would have undoubtedly ruined the movie.
A good movie to see, the story is not terribly complex and has more of a feel of being a short-story, but this style serves the movie well. The want-what-you-can't-have sadness (or could have... if you gave it all up) often accompanying romance is illustrated very well here.