War photographer W. Eugene Smith travels back to Japan where he documents the devastating effect of mercury poisoning in coastal communities.War photographer W. Eugene Smith travels back to Japan where he documents the devastating effect of mercury poisoning in coastal communities.War photographer W. Eugene Smith travels back to Japan where he documents the devastating effect of mercury poisoning in coastal communities.
- Awards
- 3 nominations total
Featured reviews
Slowburning, warmhearted, shocking portrait of the destruction of children's health by chemical pollution in Japan.
The story: Johnny Depp plays his usual clusmy, comical self, this time around he plays an American alcoholic master photographer. Out of the blue comes a Japanese woman at his door who asks him for his help to expose the pollution crimes through his photography.
Impressive movie, which starts out rather lighthearted and sometimes even kinda comical, only near the very end the drama hits full on, when we as an audience get to see the many disfigured, handicapped children, ruined for life by the chemical pollution of the river from which they ate the fish...
Produced by Johnny Depp himself. Based on true events...
Please have the patience to watch the final credits, because at the end many similar chemical pollution catastrophes are being shown from around the world, including Europe and the USA.
The story: Johnny Depp plays his usual clusmy, comical self, this time around he plays an American alcoholic master photographer. Out of the blue comes a Japanese woman at his door who asks him for his help to expose the pollution crimes through his photography.
Impressive movie, which starts out rather lighthearted and sometimes even kinda comical, only near the very end the drama hits full on, when we as an audience get to see the many disfigured, handicapped children, ruined for life by the chemical pollution of the river from which they ate the fish...
Produced by Johnny Depp himself. Based on true events...
Please have the patience to watch the final credits, because at the end many similar chemical pollution catastrophes are being shown from around the world, including Europe and the USA.
Minamata is a must-watch for all cinema lovers to appreciate the cinematography, direction and the choice of background scores used, about the Minamata disease that caused havoc in the early 1970s.
Johnny Depp, perhaps one of the greatest and most versatile actors of all time, turns in a powerful and sombre performance where he is able to emote mostly from his eyes. Once again, he goes right into the skin of the character in this case, the late Eugene Smith and is definitely worthy a performance to ATLEAST an Academy Award nomination. Bill Nighy is good in an extended cameo. Minami is very good in her role as well.
To summarise, this movie is a must watch for Johnny Depp's excellent performance, his best since Black Mass, and the topic of mercury poising and the environmental damage by conglomerates, which I personally believe needs to receive more attention. This movie personofies art & cinema's true purpose.
Johnny Depp, perhaps one of the greatest and most versatile actors of all time, turns in a powerful and sombre performance where he is able to emote mostly from his eyes. Once again, he goes right into the skin of the character in this case, the late Eugene Smith and is definitely worthy a performance to ATLEAST an Academy Award nomination. Bill Nighy is good in an extended cameo. Minami is very good in her role as well.
To summarise, this movie is a must watch for Johnny Depp's excellent performance, his best since Black Mass, and the topic of mercury poising and the environmental damage by conglomerates, which I personally believe needs to receive more attention. This movie personofies art & cinema's true purpose.
A Beautiful Movie that no one promotes, I wonder why. It's even sad that people, mainstream media and twitter blue checks don't talk about this movie. Great Performance by Depp and by most of the cast, even by the "real people". Touching story. And of course the photography of this film is outstanding, but that's predictable.
If you are looking for entertainment - skip this film.
It will skin your soul alive. So touching, frustrating, making clear where the "small people"'place is. Great characters, great acting, great directing. Thanks for including Johnny Depp, in this cancel culture you never know. But once again he proves that his talent is way above all the gossip.
It will skin your soul alive. So touching, frustrating, making clear where the "small people"'place is. Great characters, great acting, great directing. Thanks for including Johnny Depp, in this cancel culture you never know. But once again he proves that his talent is way above all the gossip.
"Minamata" is a Drama movie in which we follow the photographer William Eugene Smith traveling to some coastal villages in Japan to capture with his camera the effect of mercury poisoning on people.
I was simply amazed by this movie because it had an interesting plot that was based on real events and since I did not know about them I was shocked. The direction which was made by Andrew Levitas was very good and he presented very well the whole story behind mercury poisoning and he also did a good job on the way he used some old footage of that time. The interpretation of Johnny Depp who played as William Eugene Smith was simply outstanding. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Minami's who played as Aileen, Hiroyuki Sanada's who played as Mitsuo Yamazaki and Jun Kunimura's who played as Junichi Nojima. In conclusion, I have to say that "Minamata" is an amazing movie and I highly recommend everyone to watch it because you will learn something about a huge environmental problem that affected many people and many families.
I was simply amazed by this movie because it had an interesting plot that was based on real events and since I did not know about them I was shocked. The direction which was made by Andrew Levitas was very good and he presented very well the whole story behind mercury poisoning and he also did a good job on the way he used some old footage of that time. The interpretation of Johnny Depp who played as William Eugene Smith was simply outstanding. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Minami's who played as Aileen, Hiroyuki Sanada's who played as Mitsuo Yamazaki and Jun Kunimura's who played as Junichi Nojima. In conclusion, I have to say that "Minamata" is an amazing movie and I highly recommend everyone to watch it because you will learn something about a huge environmental problem that affected many people and many families.
Discover the nominees, explore red carpet fashion, and cast your ballot!
Did you know
- TriviaThe city of Minamata, Kumamoto, declined to lend its name as a supporter to a local screening held in August 2021 organized by volunteers, prior to the nationwide release of the film in Japan in September 2021. The city told The Asahi Shimbun that it was uncertain whether the film depicted historical events accurately and was conducive to dispelling discrimination and prejudice against patients. Kumamoto Prefecture, on the other hand, supported the screening.
- GoofsJohnny Depp sings Forever Young by Bob Dylan in the film in 1971. The song was written in 1973 and released in 1974.
- How long is Minamata?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Thảm Họa Minamata
- Filming locations
- Belgrade, Serbia(Dunav)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $755,878
- Runtime
- 1h 55m(115 min)
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content