Kokuho

My goodness I'm doing it. Giving this Japanese theater epic a 10. I can't deny how I feel sitting here in the theater. There's a knot in my stomach still. The kind of knot that feels like it changes something in you. Epic. Family epic. Artistic epic. Friendship epic. Personal epic. The kind of epic you witness that makes you want to make one of your own. Three pivotal moments at the end that suctioned the rating from a 6 to a 10. The first was when the brothers are doing the suicide scene together and they truly made me believe he was actually going to kill him. And then the scene ends and you realize their acting has truly transcended into belief. It was like a magic trick. The second was with the daughter at the end talking through the camera (another ode to acting) and the awe and forgiveness yet with the guilt and blame together as opposites held together at the same time and the interwoven scene of snow like the opening of the movie. The third was just the acknowledgment that although it felt jumpy and I can't completely tell the Japanese apart, this emotion couldn't have been done without the huge time span. Truly a 10.