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Distance

  • 20012001
  • UnratedUnrated
  • 2h 12m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • IMDbPro
Distance (2001)
  • Drama
Members of a cult, modeled on Aum Shinrikyo, sabotage a city's water supply, then commit mass suicide near the shores of a lake. Family members of those affected by it meet at the lake to ob... Read allMembers of a cult, modeled on Aum Shinrikyo, sabotage a city's water supply, then commit mass suicide near the shores of a lake. Family members of those affected by it meet at the lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.Members of a cult, modeled on Aum Shinrikyo, sabotage a city's water supply, then commit mass suicide near the shores of a lake. Family members of those affected by it meet at the lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
1.6K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Hirokazu Koreeda
  • Writer
    • Hirokazu Koreeda
  • Stars
    • Arata Iura
    • Yûsuke Iseya
    • Susumu Terajima
Top credits
  • Director
    • Hirokazu Koreeda
  • Writer
    • Hirokazu Koreeda
  • Stars
    • Arata Iura
    • Yûsuke Iseya
    • Susumu Terajima
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 13User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
    • 58Metascore
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination

    Photos

    Distance (2001)
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    Top cast

    Edit
    Arata Iura
    • Atsushias Atsushi
    Yûsuke Iseya
    Yûsuke Iseya
    • Masaruas Masaru
    Susumu Terajima
    Susumu Terajima
    • Makotoas Makoto
    Yui Natsukawa
    Yui Natsukawa
    • Kiyokaas Kiyoka
    Tadanobu Asano
    Tadanobu Asano
    • Sakataas Sakata
    Azusa
    • Azusaas Azusa
    Ken'ichi Endô
    Ken'ichi Endô
    • Tamaki (Kiyoka'S husband)as Tamaki (Kiyoka'S husband)
    Seminosuke Murasugi
    • Miyamuraas Miyamura
    Baijaku Nakamura
    • Detective Kikumaas Detective Kikuma
    Ikuji Nakamura
    Ryô
    Ryô
    • Yûkoas Yûko
    Kanji Tsuda
    Kanji Tsuda
    • Masaru's elder brotheras Masaru's elder brother
    Yorie Yamashita
    • Makoto's ex-wifeas Makoto's ex-wife
    • Director
      • Hirokazu Koreeda
    • Writer
      • Hirokazu Koreeda
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
    • All cast & crew

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Members of a cult, modeled on Aum Shinrikyo, sabotage a city's water supply, then commit mass suicide near the shores of a lake. Family members of those affected by it meet at the lake to observe the anniversary of their loved ones' deaths.
    • lake
    • urban setting
    • family relationships
    • victim
    • trail
    • 14 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Genre
      • Drama
    • Certificate
      • Unrated
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    User reviews13

    Review
    Top review
    10/10
    Mapping Kore-eda
    Don't look here for answers to 9/11 or the Aum incident. Best tries for that would be read Haruki Murakami's "Underground" (Vintage International 2001) or see Shinji Aoyama's "Eureka." "Distance" has two significant sets. First is a dirt road through a skyless (camera doesn't look up) forest. A group connected in various ways with former Aum members, come to honor the tragedy but stranded by a car breakdown, take forever deciding whether to walk backward or forward. Suspense builds, a little like that around the host and guests unable to leave in Buñuel's "Exterminating Angel." The sole Aum vet among them (he got out before the serin) offers a third option, essentially go sideways (almost as if Buñuel's crowd had decided to walk out toward the camera or away from it through a wall), leading to the second significant set, a not quite barracks-like abandoned Aum building. Discussion there, centering on the building's dispersed inhabitants, reminds of the Aum member interviews in the second half of "Underground." The ending's ambiguous, so ambiguous that four months later, I can't remember it other than in images.

    What I do recall is Director Kore-eda speaking after my screening. Though he'd been forthcoming throughout the rest of the Q and A, when two or three people challenged the ending he began excusing and apologizing, seeming to second-guess his edits. I'm not sure he should have apologized. Strictly in images, the film has a beginning, center, and end: the road in; the bright (even at night electrically and the bridge and lake that figure in one of the tales are more brightness) heart of darkness; the road out. Last thing I remember, though I'm not sure it was right at the end, is a bright, franchise-looking shop, one of the group running in to get something.
    helpful•10
    22
    • frankgaipa
    • Aug 22, 2002

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 26, 2001 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Official sites
      • KORE-EDA Hirokazu (japanese) (Japan)
      • latest film info in the director's official site
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Distancia
    • Production companies
      • CineRocket
      • Distance Project Team
      • Engine Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 12 minutes
    • Color
      • Color

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