MABOROSI

May 2, 1997 (Friday) at 7:30 p.m.

MABOROSI is an exquisitely photographed bittersweet story of love and loss adapted from a short story by Teru Miyamoto. Winner of the Gold Hugo for Best Film at the Chicago Film Festival, MABOROSI is a film of great cinematic beauty, narrative elegance, and emotional power.

Maborosi is a Japanese word that means illusion or mirage, and Hirokazu Kore-eda's captivating debut feature is a lyrical examination of a vague beautiful glow that rises from the ocean and pulls fishermen away from shore, and the living toward death. Maborosi tells the story of Yumiko, a young woman whose husband Ikuo, for no apparent reason, steps in front of an oncoming train one evening. His death continues to haunt Yumiko, who, while suffering quietly through her pain, longs to understand the lure of the great beyond. Maborosi, in exploring the impact unexplained death has on a loved one's survivors, is gorgeous stately and full of deeply resounding imagery. The work of a gifted, sensitive film artist, with none of the awkward or self-referential that marks most first films, Maborosi is sure to elevate Kore-eda into place among notable Japanese directors. Makiko Esumi, a former model who gives a rich, sensitive first performance as Yumiko, may be bound for film stardom. The winner of awards at film festivals throughout the world, Maborosis is a rare gem.

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