Hachimitsu to Clover (2006)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Masahiro Takada

Writers:

Chika Umino (comic)
Masahiko Kawahara (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 January 2007 (South Korea)

Genre:

Romance

Plot Keywords:

Based On Comic

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

Sho Sakurai	...	Takemoto
Yû Aoi	...	Hagu
Yusuke Iseya	...	Morita
Ryo Kase	...	Mayama
Megumi Seki	...	Ayumi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ginpuncho	...	Koda sensei
Kenta Hamano	...	Student
Junichi Haruta	...	Policeman
Keisuke Horibe	...	Ruiji Fujiwara
Tetsuhiro Ikeda	...	Designer
Chris Kent	...	Professor Hanamoto (voice)
Kei Majima
Tomu Miyazaki	...	Mario Fujiwara
Shido Nakamura
Naomi Nishida	...	Rika Harada
Masato Sakai	...	Shuji Hanamoto
Ippei Sasaki
Yumi Shimizu	...	Reporter
Seiichi Tanabe	...	Harada
Tsuyoshi Toshishige	...	Master of Teahouse
Jai West	...	Man at party

Also Known As:

Honey & Clover (International: English title)

Runtime:

Hong Kong:117 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Hong Kong:I | South Korea:All

Company:

Asmik Ace Entertainment

Movie Connections:

Version of "Hachimitsu to kurôbâ" (2008)

'Charming'

I bought this on DVD a few months ago purely on a whim - I liked the cover, I'd heard the story was quite sweet and CDJapan had a few copies of the limited edition left. I'm /so/ glad I did.

I've seen a lot of reviews claiming that without some sort of prior knowledge of the anime/manga, this movie isn't worth your time. I'm going to have to disagree, however, as I've seen neither, and found 'Honey and Clover' to be just so charming.

It's not a dramatic, flashy story - it's a gentle look at love and growing up with five of the most likable characters I've encountered in any film in recent times. I can see why some people would find it slow-paced, but I thought it was a lovely little glimpse into the lives of these characters (and given the nature of the film, I think it makes sense that the storyline meanders slowly through their lives, revealing little bits of them).

Visually, it's very attractive. Being set in an art school means there's plenty of wonderful scenes of paint splashing around on canvas, and everything about it is bright and fun to look at. The soundtrack is great - Yoko Kanno is so talented, I don't even have the words to gush annoyingly - and fits well.

I really enjoyed this film. I wouldn't say it's for everyone (I hesitate to use the words 'chick-flick' as 'Honey and Clover' is a lot more thoughtful than that, but I have trouble envisioning most guys watching and enjoying it) but watching it left me with a warm, nostalgic feeling inside. :)