Love Letter (1995)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Shunji Iwai

Writer:

Shunji Iwai (writer)

Release Date:

10 July 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

When exchanging letters two women discover new things about a man they knew.

Plot Keywords:

Memory | High School | Yearbook | Mountain | Mountain Climbing

Awards:

14 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Miho Nakayama	...	Itsuki Fujii / Hiroko Watanabe
Etsushi Toyokawa	...	Akiba Shigeru
Bunjaku Han	...	Female itsuki's mother
Katsuyuki Shinohara	...	Female itsuki's grandfather
Miki Sakai	...	Itsuki Fujii as a young girl
Takashi Kashiwabara	...	Male itsuki fujii
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Abekasu
Emiko Nagata	...	Harumi
Kaori Oguri	...	Suzumi
Naoki Gotô	...	Ootomo
Toshiya Sakai	...	Driver
Keiichi Suzuki	...	Male itsuki's father
Tomorowo Taguchi	...	Female itsuki's father
Hiroshi Kanbe	...	Haruo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mariko Kaga	...	Male itsuki's mother
Kumi Nakamura	...	Hamaguchi, teacher
Sansei Shiomi	...	Kajioyaji
Ranran Suzuki	...	Sanae Oikawa

Also Known As:

Letters of Love (USA)
Rabu retâ (Japan) (promotional title)
When I Close My Eyes

MPAA:

Rated PG for brief mild language.

Runtime:

Japan:117 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Malaysia:U | South Korea:All | Singapore:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Nobeyama, Japan

Company:

Fuji Television Network

Trivia:

Near the end of the film Itsuki recalls the time of her father's funeral in flashback. The music playing under this scene is called "A Winter Story" and begins with a piano solo. The piano for this piece is played by eight year old Yui Makino.

Quotes:

Male itsuki fujii: [Checking out books from the female Itsuki in the school libray. The male Itsuki holds up five checkout cards that he has been the first to sign like a poker hand. He speaks in English] Fujii Itsuki straight flush.

Incredible!

I didn't find any part of it boring! The only regret of mine is that I have not seen this film in the cinema. Instead I watched it on vcd. Nevertheless, the beautiful shots came through, and the story all the more touching.

May sound silly that identical girls are related to the same man. But in fact, you wouldn't have any trouble identifying which girl is which, because they are so "different". One is sad and soft-spoken, the other humorous and tomboyish.

A light and funny show, and you'll sigh when it's over and hope it isn't yet. The ending is the climax, you'll love it!

Wonderful performance by Nagayama Miho! She speaks a few simple words (won't tell you what words) and I felt like crying, not because it was sad.

Believe me, watch it and smile for the rest of the week as you recall those "high school days".