Heaven's Bookstore (2004)
"Tengoku no honya - koibi" (original title)

Director:

Tetsuo Shinohara

Writers:

Atsushi Matsuhisa (novel), Wataru Tanaka (novel),

Stars:

Yûko Takeuchi, Tetsuji Tamayama, Karina

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Yûko Takeuchi	...	Shoko / Natsuko
Tetsuji Tamayama	...	Kenta
Karina	...	Yui
Hirofumi Arai	...	Satoshi
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Takimoto
Yoshio Harada	...	Yamaki
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ayumu Saitô
Akashi Takei

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

5 June 2004 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Heaven's Bookstore

Company Credits

Production Co:

Tengoku no Hon'ya: Koibi Film Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Pretty setting, serious themes, half-baked treatment

Unless you're addicted to prettily-shot romantic fluff with cute but skin-deep ideas (like bookshops in Heaven), the only reason to see this slow-moving, emotionally unfocused movie is the performances of Takeuchi Yuko and Kagawa Teruyuki. Takeuchi manages to give some appeal and depth to the two underwritten characters she plays. And Kagawa gives such a raw and discomfiting performance as a former fire-works maker in need of redemption that he seems out of place in a movie which otherwise prettifies pain.

As a whole, the movie fails to strike a balance between the cuteness of its set-up, and the seriousness of its themes of love and guilt, which it lingers over mournfully. It's neither light enough nor serious enough. And as we're expected to invest emotionally in so many characters, all of whom are underdeveloped, we end up investing in none of them.

The last scene is a beauty though.