Love Collage (2003)

(Japanese with English subtitles) Down-on-his-luck photographer Makoto (Ryuhei Matsuda) receives a letter from his old girlfriend, who, according to a friend, died a year ago in NYC. Eager ... See full summary »

Director:

Yukihiko Tsutsumi

Writer:

Kaoru Ogawa

Stars:

Ryôko Hirosue, Ryûhei Matsuda, Eiko Koike

Cast

Credited cast:
Ryôko Hirosue	...	Shizuru Satonaka
Ryûhei Matsuda	...	Masato Segawa
Eiko Koike	...	Aya
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Adeyto	...	Girl in NY church
Robert Baldwin
Kansai Eto	...	(as Kan Eto)
Maria Theresa Gow
Atsushi Harada
Eric Jones	...	Man at Airport
Dominic Marcus	...	Cassius (as Maakusu Dominiku)
Mayuko Nishiyama
Rei Okamoto
Ren Osugi	...	Director (as Ren Ôsugi)
Gregory Pekar	...	James Bond
Jirô Satô

Storyline

(Japanese with English subtitles) Down-on-his-luck photographer Makoto (Ryuhei Matsuda) receives a letter from his old girlfriend, who, according to a friend, died a year ago in NYC. Eager to find out the truth, he sets out on a journey of self-discovery and reminisces about the time he spent with the lovely Shizuru (Ryoko Hirosue).

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Plot Keywords:

japanese | letter | photographer | new york city | ex boyfriend ex girlfriend relationship | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese English

Release Date:

16 May 2003 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Collage of Our Lives

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Eisei Gekijo, Office Crescendo, Shochiku

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

I wanted to like this movie, I really did (no spoilers)

Personally, I like the odd pacing of Japanese dramas, not too picky about bits of freaky English, and willing to put up with a lot from anything Ryoko Hirosue is in (I even made a heartfelt effort to like Wasabi). But all I can think of in regards to this movie is "what went wrong?" Well, first, the plot. The overall story could have been a very touching little love story, a la "Truly, madly, deeply," or at least "Reisei to jônetsu no aida" (if you like Japanese flicks). Morose photographer Makoto Seigawa (Matsuda) and quirky Shizuru Satonaka (the ever adorable Hirosue) meet, fall for each other, and have an amusing 'opposites attract' relationship, until Seigawa does what every moody male Japanese lead does and screws it up. Ok, typical set up, but done fairly well. But once Seigawa goes to New York, things just get screwy. It turns into a cheezy comedy/mystery/action (very loosely speaking) seizure. You'd get more plot consistency randomly channel surfing. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to hear that a bunch of scripts got mixed up, and no one noticed until they were too over-budget to re-shoot. Why does Seigawa keep getting beaten up? What's with all the guns? What does the Chinese Mafia have to do with anything? Your guess is as good as mine. When they finally do get around to the main plot again, it's pretty much duct-tapped together with coincidences, if at all. The 'climax' come out of nowhere, and plays out like an episode of "G.I. Joe". All this makes the last desperate attempt to return to a serious drama even more pathetic. And then the acting. Now, Hirosue and Matsuda can both act. I really believe they could have pulled this off (with a serious script rewrite, at least, which would have given them a chance to develop their chemistry a little more too). The other Japanese actors are mediocre, but the English parts are truly beyond belief. That's fine if you're only dealing with a few bit parts, but half the movie and most of the secondary characters are in New York. That's a heck of a lot of pre-school-Christmas-play level acting to put up with. Matsuda obviously has only a vague clue as to what he's saying, and he still had the best delivery in the bunch. Ok, there's some nice cinematography (not too much to ask from a movie about photographers), and lots of pretty pictures (mostly of Hirosue, which is fine if you, like me, have a thing for her). Unfortunately, any symbols of any significance are then pounded into your brain again and again, often followed by a close-up in case you still missed the point (all right with the oranges already, WE GET IT!!). The meandering tangents in New York feel like one of the financial backer's nephews said "Gee... New York, maybe we should toss something in about 9-11. Oh, and race relations, yeah, that's good too." I wanted to like this movie, for the following reasons:

1.Ryoko Hirosue's in it (but not nearly enough). 2.Ryuhei Matsuda's in it (but his monotone English is only witty for about the first 3 lines. Then it's just monotone). 3.The Japanese DVD has English subtitles (but they don't match the dialogue, even the English parts) 4.It's a Japanese romantic drama, and I like those (well, the first part is, then you have to be on crack just to keep up).