Hirokazu Kore-eda presents a contemplative and objective, yet compassionate portrait of loss, grief, and healing in Distance. Interspersing memories and dissociated flashbacks with the present-day memorial at the lake, Kore-eda conveys the pattern of alienation and emotional isolation of the perpetrators from their families as they becoming increasingly consumed with the collective ideology of the cult: Sakata's lone visit at the pier before the arrival of the relatives; the foreshadowed image of a downcast Minoru at a restaurant; Masaru's brother's (Kanji Tsuda) unexpected farewell at the end of their father's death anniversary. Moreover, by capturing civilization's increasing reliance (and dependence) on technology, Kore-eda reflects on its isolating consequence: the out-of-range cellular telephones that figuratively disconnect the travelers from the rest of the world; the anonymous and impersonal propagation of the synthesized virus through the reservoirs; Kiyoki's husband, Tamaki's (Kenichi Endo) myopic diatribe on the environmental malaise of modern civilization. But in the end, despite the mourners' attempts to understand and reconcile with their beloved's unconscionable act, the answers remain incomprehensible, enigmatic, untenable, and ultimately, elusive. (Acquarello, Strictly Film School)


General
Complete name                            : Distance (Hirokazu Koreeda, 2001)\Distance.avi
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Video
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