Kikyo

I saw this movie on a flight out of Japan, and what a treat it was. Kikyo (Going Home) is about everyman but perhaps a little lost in life Haruo (Hidetoshi Nishijima) who returns to his hometown to attend his widow mother's marriage. Once there, he meets an old flame, Miyuki {Reiko Kataoka) working several jobs and raising a 7 year-old by herself. After a reunion one night, Miyuki asks Haruo to visit the next day. When Haruo comes to visit, all he finds is the 7-year-old Chiharu. What starts as a quest to find Miyuki together becomes a lesson in life, love, responsibility and bonding for Haruo and Chiharu. This may sound hokey, but the movie is anything but formulaic. The acting is superb, even by the young Reiai Moriyama who plays Chiharu. I don't know if this film will ever make it to the states, but if it does, I will definitely see it again. It's hard to explain what exactly makes this movie so appealing, but everything, the camera work, the acting, the story, was perfect. Everything was in tune and everything felt right. It felt like going home.