Eureka (2000)

Director:

Shinji Aoyama

Writer:

Shinji Aoyama

Stars:

Kôji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Masaru Miyazaki

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kôji Yakusho	...	Makoto Sawai
Aoi Miyazaki	...	Kozue Tamura
Masaru Miyazaki	...	Naoki Tamura
Yôichirô Saitô	...	Akihiko
Sayuri Kokushô	...	Yumiko
Ken Mitsuishi	...	Shigeo
Gô Rijû	...	Busjack Man
Yutaka Matsushige	...	Matsuoka
Sansei Shiomi	...	Yoshiyuki Sawai
Kimie Shingyôji	...	Mother
Denden
Eihi Shiina	...	Keiko Kono
Yûji Nakamura
Eimei Esumi
Yôko Noma

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

shovel | hijacking | coughing blood | survivor | volcano | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Acom Co. [jp] (japanese) Pegasosfilm {de] (German)

Country:

Japan France

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

29 November 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

Evrika

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$14,470 (USA) (4 May 2001)

Gross:

$46,635 (USA) (18 May 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DENTSU Music And Entertainment, Imagica Corp., J Works

Technical Specs

Runtime:

217 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

"Ghosts/First Variation"
Written by Albert Ayler
Performed by Albert Ayler

User Reviews

Inexplicable Cinema

Probably the only thing that has happened to me which i cannot express in words. Maybe thats what the director 'Shiniji' felt and instead of trying to express is it in heavy-Hollywood-dialogs syndrome, he chose the absolutely pinnacle and quintessential form of communication- ...... If you are looking for the definition of that art, you wouldn't just find,because it doesn't exist. You have to see this movie to venture into the world which is way beyond cinema and story-telling.

Each character has just defied the very fabric of artificial situations that are cinematic and have stepped into the horizons of real world much real that what we see now. Shiniji's brilliance is not only in the way he picked up the situation and silhouetted it with ever so beautiful backdrop but also in that fact that he hasn't compromised on the lines of letting the movie talk with its aura of silence. Many great directors would have been tempted to use the brilliant characters of Naoki and Kozue to speak up their frustration(a usual ploy in American and European Cinema) to reassure their directorial capabilities, but Shiniji's belief in the movie and its characters was much more intense than both his audience and himself.

Now a little about the movie. Eureka centrally addresses the condensed emotions of people who go through a catastrophe which might not be fatal physically but is absolutely draining mentally. The eventual darkness of body and mind that leads such people to imagine heinous crimes like murder without knowing the true essence of its legitimacy. It deals with complete disintegration of human psyche to unwanted darkness. But it also shows the inevitability of human victory of life and happiness over death and darkness. Eureka tours the human road-map of complete disillusionment and back to reclaim its lost grounds.

Naoki and Kozue though being kids display a true situation that can drive even kids to craziness. Though not being dumb, words have not been their respite. The killing emptiness within woven with their apathetic vocals drilled them to their core and they became immune to popular practice of existence. Talking and involving with others were a waste, for nothing in the world could bring them what they lost. And if you ask what they lost, they cant describe it, I cant describe it, and neither can Shiniji. We can only feel it.

Makoto together with the kids was also a subject to the catastrophe. It hit him so hard mentally that he lost himself to isolation. But he regrouped and returned to his home just to find that things have changed around him, he could not justify but accepted it because he could find himself a reason to it. He visits the kids and they form a small family in which no one has to say that they care for each other, they just have to feel.

I can go on for this movie for the rest of my life but if you are alive you will see it.