SYNOPSIS:
Yota had promised his late mother to take care of
his little step-sister, Kaoru whom he has no blood relation
with. In order to put Kaoru through university and open his
own restaurant, Yota worked very hard. Gradually, Yota and
Kaoru fell in love with each other. However their love in
the eyes of others was forbidden. An unconditional love entwined
with poverty and sickness...
MOVIE REVIEW:
This reviewer is a sucker for Japanese romantic weepies like
this. How else would you explain his liking for films like
Shunju Iwai’s Love Letter (1995), and more recently,
Isao Yukisada’s Crying Out Love, in the Centre of the
World (2004) and Nobuhiro Doi’s Be With You (2004)?
Pretty
female leads aside, movies like these have a special ability
to touch your hearts, although the stories are shamelessly
predictable. It also helps that the visuals are particularly
picturesque too.
Doi
returns with a box office record-breaking movie starring the
very good-looking Satoshi Tsumabuki (Water Boys, Spring Snow)
and the very sweet Masami Nagasawa (Crying Out Love, in the
Centre of the World, Touch). To put it simply, the movie tells
the story of a forward-looking boy and his step-sister, and
how their love for each other gradually develops against the
backdrop of stunning beaches and shorelines.
And
true to the fashion of such films, Doi has weaved a beautiful
and moving story of pure and innocent love.
You’d
fall in love with little things depicted in the 118-minute
movie. The way the leads pinch their noses to stop tears from
flowing, the way Nagasawa calls out “Nee-Nee”
(brother in Japanese), and the gentle breeze that sways the
trees on the beaches – they will tug the romantic heartstrings
in you.
There
is also the familiar-sounding theme song which will play in
your mind long after the film rolls its nostalgic credits.
Local viewers will recognize the song as the once overplayed
Mandarin cover performed by Singaporean songstress Joi Chua.
The original Japanese version has an extraordinarily tear-inducing
tune that we suspect female viewers will particularly enjoy.
It is apt then, that “Nada Sou Sou” is loosely
translated as “Tears for You” in English.
No
doubt this crowd-pleaser does not score point in originality
(hands up, those who see an imminent death half an hour into
the movie), but for anyone who has fallen in love before,
this sincere production still has the power to make you believe
that love is, as cliché as it sounds, beautiful.
SPECIAL
FEATURES:
This Code 3 DVD contains several trailers with different durations:
two teaser trailers, four TV spots, a theatrical trailer and
a promotional trailer. Also, there is a 24-minute interview
featurette which, gasp, does not come with subtitles! Fans
of the director, the handsome Tsumabuki and the pretty Nagasawa
can still ogle at them talking on screen though.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
The
disc’s visual transfer makes the beaches and shorelines
in Japan look very pretty. We can only imagine the joy of
shooting a romantic movie like this there. English and Chinese
subtitles are available with the Japanese audio track.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING:
Review
by John Li
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