I Wish

Kiseki

Japan

2011

128 Min

Color

1.85:1

Japanese

Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
1
2
3
4
5

CAST Koki Maeda, Ohshirô Maeda, Nene Ohtsuka, Jô Odagiri, Kirin Kiki, Isao Hashizume, Hiroshi Abe, Yoshio Harada, Masami Nagasawa, Yui Natsukawa

San Sebastián (Competition): Best Screenplay, SIGNIS Award, Toronto (Masters), London (Film on the Square), Vancouver (Dragons & Tigers), Abu Dhabi (Narrative Feature Competition), Rotterdam (Spectrum), Göteborg (Mästare), Istanbul (From the World of Festivals), CPH PIX (Maestros), San Francisco (World Cinema)

Synopsis

12-year old Koichi lives with his mother and retired grandparents in Kagoshima, in the southern region of Kyushu. His younger brother Ryunosuke lives with their father in Hakata, northern Kyushu. The brothers have been separated by their parents’ divorce and Koichi’s only wish is for his family to be reunited. When he learns that a new bullet train line will soon open, linking the two towns, he starts to believe that a miracle will take place the moment these new trains first pass each other at top speed. With help from the adults around him, Koichi sets out on a journey with a group of friends, each hoping to witness a miracle that will improve their difficult lives.

Director

Hirokazu Kore-eda

Born in Tokyo in 1962. Originally intended to be a novelist, but after graduating from Waseda University in 1987 went on to become an assistant director at TV Man Union. Sneaked off set to film Lessons from a Calf (1991). His first feature, Maboroshi no hikari (1995), based on a Teru Miyamoto novel and drawn from his own experiences whilst filming August Without Him (1994), won jury prizes at Venice and Chicago. The main themes of his oeuvre include memory and loss, death and loss, and the intersection of documentary and fictional narratives. —IMDb

Wall

Displaying 4 of 17 wall posts.

see all

Matt Richards

21May12

A friendly delve into the complications of life as a child in modern day Japan. A time of hopes and dreams and a place where wishes just might come true. The children are great and all appear to be far wiser than any of the adults in this. It's shmaltz free and captures the energy and adventure of youth in arresting detail. 3 stars

WhatsUpWill

18May12

As magical as only few films can be.

Santino

15May12

A small film and not nearly as emotionally impactful as STILL WALKING but still a worthwhile experience. Nicely detailed and captures some beautiful moments of childhood.

Matthew_Lucas

13May12

Hirokazu Kore-eda continues to stake his claim as the modern day answer to Yasujiro Ozu with this altogether wonderful film about two young brothers, separated by their parents' divorce, who set out to create a miracle and reunite their family. Hirokazu has a knack for taking the mundane details of life and turning them into something extraordinary, and this beautifully sensitive portrait of childhood is no different