Slow down, immerse yourself, allow yourself to enjoy this beautiful escapism.

Rating: Null/10 (11 March 2004)

With 854 comments, it gets easy find some trends. Here's a clichÃ© for you: "Either you love it, or you hate it." -- that expression really seems to work for this movie.
As I see it, there's two very, very strong sentiments about this move: either: a) You love the movie. You find the theme of exploring the relationship of two people in a non-hollywood style very intriguing, feeling so glad that *finally*, here's a movie which is able to express some genuine, wonderful feeling without making it all feel just plastic. You are immersed into this exotic environment. or: b) You hate the movie. You say there's no plot, and the movie is absolutely mind-numbingly slow and boring. You might even have just seen the first thirty mins and then skipped to the end, feeling deeply unsatisfied or just... bored. You think the jokes just sucked, and the acting dull.
For the (b) people, I'd say you have been sucked in, been swallowed by the modern "accelerated culture". Take it easy. Slow down. Absorb the feelings that this film is radiating, allow yourself to really immerse yourself into the main characters' existence. Pure escapism.
As someone said: there is no plot because there is not supposed to be a plot. This is an exploration of characters. Hence the slow pace. It all makes sense, and it's all very beautiful.
All in all, though I'm not able to express my true feelings about this movie, I thought it was a pleasant change of pace, and generally a movie I'd recommend others to see. It does, however, require an open mind and a *possibility* for you to slow down, step down from the over-trimmed machine that is our modern society. (sitting on the floor is nice, and Japanese, too! ;) )