It's rare indeed that I ever wished a new Japanese film were longer — and I am not the only one. "This could be shorter by (name your number) minutes" is such a cliche of Japanese film reviewing and commentary that I inwardly groan every time I read or hear it; and yet more often than not, it's right. The two-hour film that crams in as many characters and story lines as possible from its source manga/novel/TV drama has become the industry standard.
But when Makoto Shinozaki's "Arekara (Since Then)" ended at 63 minutes, a point at which many a film made here is just clearing its throat, I did want more of this sensitive and poetic albeit rather thin drama, about a couple torn apart by forces beyond their control.
"Okaeri" (1995), Shinozaki's debut feature and still his best, was also about the dissolution of a relationship as the isolated wife descends into madness, as well as being light on conventional exposition, but Shinozaki gave himself more time — 99 minutes to be exact — to tell his story through a close, dispassionate examination of his troubled heroine and her unobservant husband. The climactic scene, shot in one long take, is so devastating because we have, almost without realizing it, come to know the couple so well.
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