my review (and some screencaps) of Genji Monogatari....

[tomas_room2]

i'll write a review + post some screencaps once i have time 2 watch it with subs! =)

(sorry for the lines in between the paragraphs, but as usual, LJ will get rid of the spaces if i don't do that, since i'm copying and pasting from Notepad. WOW, I'M SO GLAD I'M FINALLY DONE WITH THIS!!!! *__* NOT THAT I DIDN'T LIKE THIS MOVIE. WELL, I THOUGHT IT WAS OK, AND THE LOVE SCENES AND PRETTY PARTS DEFINITELY MAKE UP FOR THE BORING SLOW PARTS, BUT....still, this movie was quite boring. haha...and don't worry, there are NO SPOILERS!)

overall, i give this movie a "C+" grade. -__-

the story: C

the characters: C

the acting: B

the art direction: A

the music: B

(also, the CGI was really great!)

(pretty pink room! ^^)

it's strange, but i think i liked the movie more when i didn't understand what they were saying? haha. i think it's because i thought the dialogue would be better, but most of the time they didn't really say anything interesting? xD

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(cuddle time! ~_~)


(i felt really sorry for aoi... it's nice to see at least one woman who's not crazy in love with him and is even cold to him sometimes. he was really gentle and sweet to her, and she is his wife. she's the only one who didn't get a kissing scene with him, too.)

well, i definitely appreciate how they made genji a much nicer guy than he was in the novel, because from what i've read about him, he was a really horrible, arrogant, selfish creep! of course in the movie though, you feel sorry for him. even though he sleeps around a lot, it's only because he's trying to forget about his true love, his step-mother. and he really seems to care about each woman, when he's with them, anyway. i definitely hate men who cheat, but it's hard to hate him because it's toma as prince genji, and he's really handsome and such a gentle and caring lover! ~_~

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(gahhhhhh!! so cute, even when he's sleeping!!!!♥ no wonder the ladies can't resist him. lol.)


(i know it's a cliché, but i loved all the scenes with the sakura petals flying by...^^)

this movie is a lot like ningen shikkaku, actually. both about a handsome guy who has many lovers. both have beautiful imagery...beautiful scenery. sometimes it's like looking at a painting. and both main characters seem bored for most of the movie. haha. except i think ningen shikkaku is a better movie because it has a better story than genji monogatari. at least it has more depth and feels less...empty? i don't know...i think they could have done a better job with the dialogue for this movie. sometimes it's very nice and poetic, but most of the time, it seems sometimes there is some randomness, like they don't really say anything that meaningful or important? sometimes there seems like there is more silence than dialogue, too. there are some scenes where nothing really happens and i'm like "what was the point of that scene?? is it put in the movie just because it looks nice? did they do this on purpose to show how life is very boring there?". i don't get it... but maybe it's because the novel was really long and there were a lot of random moments like this??

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(so many conversations through a screen....)
and most of the movie, it's so quiet. it makes me uncomfortable and sleepy. and for most of the movie, time seems to move so slow. way too slow! it was frustrating. but because it was so quiet, you really notice toma's voice. i really like his gentle, soft-spoken voice. ~_~ but i don't like how he and everyone else did not show much emotion. i mean, of course they did, but most of the time everyone was so expressionless and moved and talked so slowly. i understand that's because things were so formal back then and that's how they had to be, but it still was very annoying to me.

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(i just liked how they had the purple flowers here. because the name of the author is the name of this flower, right? i'm too lazy to look it up right now though. lol.)
it's kind of interesting to see the parts about the lady writing the story and hikaru and how he is like prince genji, and why she is writing it. (and the parts where 1 of the characters kind of crossed into the other story were cool!) she is even a lot like the jealous and sad female "ghost" who is desperately in love with genji. but i wonder if it would have been better to just make the whole movie about prince genji instead of going back and forth between the story about genji and the life of the lady writing the story. because i didn't really care about what happens to those people. they weren't that interesting, to be honest.

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(deep kiss!!)

(another kiss...)
the love scenes were good. as expected, they were nicely done and nothing too sexy. except there was one deep kiss that they zoomed in way too much that grossed me out a little. haha. actually, i think it's a little weird how they have screens everywhere. sometimes it seems like their room has screens all around it, so how do they get any privacy to do stuff like this, if people can always easily see into their room? lol. i guess they have other fabric or something that they can cover it up with? but i guess how prince genji and his lovers are often divided by a see-through screen that he can easily get pass...there is something sexy about that? haha. they really have so many beautiful screens in this movie! beautiful clothes, too, of course. big, heavy, sometimes strange looking clothes, but still pretty.

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lastly, i want to share this pretty poem that yugao wrote for prince genji:

the crystal dew at Evening's hour

sleeps on the Yugao's beauteous flower

will this please him, whose glances bright

gave to the flowers a dearer light.


(yugao's place was very pretty... it's a little weird that they made love in a place out in the open like that, but i guess the servants wouldn't dare peek at them. lol.)

Comments

[kathy-paco.livejournal.com]

have you watched it already?
im looking forward for your review! ^_^

[chochajin.livejournal.com]

I haven't watchted it in the cinema and I still haven't watched it now.
I do have it, but I just don't feel like watching it.
And after reading this here, I still don't fell like watching it! ;)

[kurisuchiin-ccb.livejournal.com]

thank you for writing this review..
i now have an idea on what to expect when i watch this film..

i'm wondering if there's some funny scenes or it's just all serious stuffs?

i hope toma would do something light, or inspiring or fun to watch project next time..

even if i'm his fan, ningen shikkaku is a bit.. sad to say.. boring to me too and osozaki no himawari's plot too >_< then i found bokura ga ita's mood gloomy more than a romantic one..