When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to Be Dead.

Maybe I had many expectations from "When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead". But, part of the odd "murder" cases, the story was just okay. It was blunt at some points as well. The main message that this movie wanted to come through was sweet and very moving, as the couple's relationship, even though wierd, it was realistic. The genre of this movie was slice of life after all. But, the movie lacked intensity and so the story didn't feel as good as it was. The performances, however, were good. So four out of ten.

Alright, well with a movie title such as "When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead" (aka "Ie ni kaeru to tsuma ga kanarazu shinda furi o shite imasu"), I must admit that I had initially expected something quite else and something more humorous than the movie actually turned out to be.

With that being said, don't get me wrong, because director Toshio Lee does deliver somewhat of an entertaining movie, just not exactly what I had expected.

The storyline told in "When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead" was different, I will give that much credit to writers K. Kajunsky, Ichida and Aya Tsubota. The movie was definitely unlike anything I had ever seen before, for better or worse. As such, the movie might not readily fall into good liking with all people in the audience, as it can be something of an acquired taste.

The cast in the movie, albeit being a small cast, actually carried the movie quite well. The two leads held by Ken Yasuda and Nana Eikura actually carried the movie phenomenally. I can't claim to be overly familiar with either of them, and since I enjoy watched unfamiliar talents on the screen, this was a pure treat for me. Especially since they had such good chemistry on the screen and they both performed quite well in the movie.

"When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead" can feel somewhat like a strange and oddly confusing movie, and it wasn't really before the ending of the movie that it dawned upon me what the purpose of the movie really was.

If you enjoy Japanese movies that aren't exactly mainstream and like watching a movie that offers something very unique, then "When I Get Home, My Wife Always Pretends to be Dead" is a good movie to sit down and watch. However, keep in mind that the movie is not just readily suitable for just anyone.

...seems that the first commentator does not have an idea of Japanese cinema or even the construction of a movie. Sorry for the harsh words, but do not know why you decide to comment about movies, if you do not discern even the story line...

-One of the things that the director is showing is the fact that communication is everything in a relationship so if you cannot stand some situations for one reason or another, would be very difficult to carry on with a successful marriage. The point of views are based on four examples of a marriage in the different stages of life. The strange behavior of the main wife is based on what she found as a fortress to manage the death of her Mother when she was a child and to bring some better moments to her Father in those difficult days. Kind of a refuge constructed on great Literature of the XIX century. All these relationships are between people that tried hard to keep on going but at some point is not up to you only; may be the destiny and dead is working against one of the parts involved too. The firsts half an hour is somewhat bland then the rest grows slowly but consistent so if you pass that and dive around some subtleties you would finish with something that provides hope. No doubt that all we need another person at our sides but many times this is not available for any body or is a harsh road. We as human beings struggle all our life with some type of relation, losing the energy, stressing out us then we are dead...is evident that we do not like to live alone all our life.

In 2014, I was told by a friend, a Japanese lawyer, that the divorce rate in Japan, particularly Tokyo is pretty high. Even for the elder couples, after their children legally grown-up, lots of couples get divorced as they feel that there is no love among them from the first, its only children that bounded them (as mentioned by Jun's boss in a scene). This movie is a moving-romantic-touching ways in portraying these facts of marriage in Japan. The acts were all perfect and natural. The script is excellent in telling various problems in nice and slow pace. Even the "mistranslation" mentioned by other reviewer, I believe it was chosen to telling the audience that love or being in loved is not identical with the three words only, but it can translated into sooooo many various ways..

Every day he comes home from work, his wife plays dead in all kinds of elaborate, creative ways, which makes him doubt and question the health of their relationship. That part of the movie is very cheesy and exaggerated, like no real person would ever act this way, except someone who's manic and not completely sane. But this only serves as a metaphor for all the little things that you learn about your partner after having been together for some time. The endearing things they do, but also the things that annoy you about them. The different ways in which both look at something, which can lead to misunderstandings. All that is part of being married. It's a struggle and a challenge sometimes, but a beautiful one.

The movie is a quite thoughtful and deep, but also wholesome and uplifting reflection on marriage. In the age of feminism sewing ugliness and disunity between men and women, this is feels like a candle in the darkness.