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Café Lumière
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 9 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama | Foreign
Written by:
Hsiao-hsien Hou
T'ien-wen Chu
Directed by: Hsiao-hsien Hou
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 10, 2005
DVD: December 27, 2005
Running Time: 104 minutes, Color
Origin: Japan / Taiwan
Language(s): Japanese (with English subtitles)
Summary
RATING: Not Rated
Starring Yo Hitoto, Tadanobu Asano, Masato Hagiwara, Kimiko Yo, and Nenji Kobayashi
A residential neighborhood in Tokyo, 2003. Yoko, a freelance writer researching musical legend Jiang Ewn-Ye, befriends Hajime, the owner of a secondhand bookstore. They spend many hours together in the district's coffee shops and train stations. Yoko feels she can tell the quiet, calm Hajime anything. When she is with him, she experiences an unusual peace of mind, a calmness of spirit. For his part, Hajime loves Yoko profoundly, but remains silent. Raised in rural Hokkaido by her near-blind uncle, Yoko now enjoys a good relationship with her father and step-mother. But when she returns to her father's house and tells them she is pregnant, and that she has no intention of marrying the Taiwanese father, they worry deeply for Yoko's future. (Wild Bunch)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Millennium Mambo Three Times
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Hou's sensitivity plus Ozu's inspiration equals sublimity of sight and sound.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Hou's best film since "The Puppetmaster" (1993). It's also his most minimalist effort to date, slow to reveal its depths and beauties, and it marks a rejuvenation of his art.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
It's a film objet d'art to contemplate and treasure.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Andrew Sun
This poetic portrait of simple Japanese life immerses you in the elegance of the ordinary.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
Café Lumière stands in relation to "Tokyo Story" as a faint, diminished echo. It is nonetheless a fascinating curiosity, a chance to witness one major filmmaker paying tribute to another in the form of a rigorously minor film.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
The film is an original work by a filmmaker who throughout his career has absorbed the best of what Ozu had to teach, and as such it stands as beautiful tribute from one master to another.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
Concerns feelings that can't be expressed, relationships that can't flower, and connections that are impossible to bridge.
Read Full Review >Variety Jay Weissberg
Hou fans will find what they're looking for; others will wonder when the action starts.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chad S. gave it a6:
When we finally learn something about Yoko (Yo Hitoto), it's that she's a writer. Yoko goes to a book store and asks the clerk about a musician she's doing research on. This is surprising, because up to this point, the only thing we know about her is that she rides the bus. Writers' block, perhaps, brought upon by the anxiety over her pregnancy? Since we never do see any coroborating evidence that she's a scribe. Hou Hsiao-hsien once again establishes his love for the static camera, and the framing of people in doorways. "Cafe Lumiere" has the advantage over "Millenium Mambo" of having its scenes bathed in daylight. Tokyo in the sun is easier on the eyes, much more so than nightclubs and murky apartments. But with the exception of "The Puppetmaster" and "The Flowers of Shanghai", his reputation as a great filmmaker eludes me. Yoko is needlessly enigmatic. Tell us something.
T Ngo gave it a10:
Wonderful. Hou pays homage to Ozu, but manages to evoke a message of his own.
M Santell gave it a0:
The critics could not be more wrong or misleading on this film. I love foreign films but this film has no "reason d'etre." There is no storyline, no action, little dialogue and no drama of any type. I've read that this was meant as a tribute from one Japanese filmmaker to another. That's fine but mislead the rest of us that this is some type of profound film and that we are at fault if we don't recognize it.
