Eureka
There are very few situations in life in which I desire to watch an immensely slow film which – on top of everything – could very well be very depressing. But I recently saw my favorite Breaking Bad episode to date (“Down”) and that one was surprisingly depressive, so it might well be that I long for more different kinds of films than usual. Other people get random cravings for food, I seem to get random cravings for films. With that, one might even explain the choices of films I made lately, and the series will probably continue for another 1-2 days.
Eureka was one of the few films Shii reviewed when he was still blogging, and of course he loved the film. Nevertheless, I find long movies extremely scary so it took me forever to finally watch this. Recently, we spoke about the Monolith films, and after some 4 years still are a bunch I have not seen yet. Incredible.
In my eyes, “Eureka” is not a masterpiece like “Stalker” was. While the scenery and shots are very beautiful, they did not strike me as that beautiful. But there is something very special about this film. My favorite scene was definitely the one in which Kozue becomes sick, and when Makoto takes care of her, she puts his finger against his. So cute! This is even more so the case because beforehand they barely speak to each other, so every small gesture of human companionship is emotionally touching. The specialty of the film lies in how the characters practically communicate without speaking. It is pretty much the exact opposite of “The Newsroom” – for Aoyama, words are all vapid, and true feelings can only be transmitted by looks and actions, if at all. What these characters have experienced is unspeakable, and so their connection can also not be depicted with words. Therefore, we get to see landscapes and apathetic faces. It makes a lot of sense, and surprisingly enough, I see the emotional connection, especially in scenes like the one with the finger.
Shii said that the children just looked emotionless and didn’t have to do anything. After all, Aoi Miyazaki grew into a terrible actress, she was Hachiko in the Nana movie! They clearly picked the children because they were cute and looked alike (they are actual siblings after all), and pairing them alongside two extremely good actors was definitely a brilliant move.
“Eureka” might be a little film where it takes forever (3 1/2 hours) for things to happen, but actually it took me in. The film is indeed deeply emotional, and as clichéd as the concept “traumatized children are unable to deal with life” might sound, in “Eureka” it works amazingly. It is no “Brighter Summer Day” because that film never felt so excruciatingly long, but both share a sense of humanity which I appreciate.