It's been more than 10 years since I last saw Uchida Yuki. She was still singing Komuro Tetsuya's songs back then, a Jpop-idol. She is still as beautiful as I remembered, but never in my wildest dream did I expect her to deliver this amazing performance in this masterpiece of a film in such a dark role.
"Quiet Room" is about a magazine writer (Uchida Yuki) getting sent to a psychiatric hospital after an accidental drug overdose mistaken for a suicide attempt. There, she was forced to spend two weeks of her life with other mental patients.
This film has the atmosphere of "Fight Club" with a similar protagonist, an insomniac on drugs, in a very different story. A large portion of this film was an exceptionally well-made dark comedy that had me laughing at 4AM (yes, I may have insomnia too). There are MANY big-name actors who I was really surprised to see in such minor roles. It was very well-casted film where everyone was perfect for the role. Uchida Yuki was the best of them all. Not only was she very visually pleasant, her sharp looks and sometimes messy hairstyles were perfect for this character. Her acting (and everyone else) was fantastic as well, I knew I was about to watch a masterpiece after only 5 minutes into the film.
"Quiet Room" IS somewhat of a comedy, but it is also very deep and inspirational film that explores what it means to live, to be free. Great story set in an isolated environment that's very promising for a movie, and the production staff had done an excellent job. An extremely well-directed movie that's very artistic, but the type everyone can understand. Music in this movie is very scarce, but extremely touching and suit each scene very well. This film is flawless in every aspect.
Without a doubt best Japanese film of 2007 and my top 5 out of almost 200 I've watched so far.
