Critic Reviews

• Derek Adams, Time Out

  The tale is told in contemplative wide-angle shots; the absence of any spurious, unearned intimacy with the characters makes the climactic scenes profoundly moving.

• Stephen Holden, New York Times

  The film, which was made with only natural light, draws the viewer into its spiritual mood with one breathtaking shot after another, as the camera draws back to contemplate Yumiko from afar.

• Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

  Nothing is casual and nothing is wasted in Maborosi.

• James Berardinelli, ReelViews

  Maborosi is a worthwhile movie experience not because it ventures into virgin territory, but because its presentation is so precise and unique.

• Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  Maborosi is one of those valuable films where you have to actively place yourself in the character's mind. There are times when we do not know what she is thinking, but we are inspired with an active sympathy.

• Mark Pfeiffer, TheFilmJournal.com (Ohio)

  [Hirokazu's] also one of the most empathetic filmmakers, softly guiding viewers through his meditations on life and death.

• Daniel Eagan, Film Journal International

  Widow tries to find out why her husband killed himself. Slow-paced but moving Japanese drama.

• Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle

  The film uses natural lighting exclusively, eschewing staged settings as often as possible and keeping some nighttime scenes entirely in the dark, an eerie mirror to Yumiko's wounded heart.

• Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

  A superior film.

• Alex Albanese, Boxoffice Magazine

  Though the audience always remains at a distance, both physical and emotional, from Yumiko, her sense of loss and her inner journey are made vivid by purely filmic means.

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  This is a powerful and profound Japanese film about one woman's long and arduous journey through grief's labyrinth.

• Vanessa Vance, Reel.com

  Maborosi exquisitely captures the despondence of a young widow overcoming her grief in a cold, remote village in coastal Japan.

• Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Examiner

  Measured and meditative, the Japanese film Maborosi draws the viewer, without emotional bludgeoning or manipulation, into the experience of a woman who has suffered a devastating personal loss.

Read all 13 critic reviews