Close My Eyes

Starring:Alan Rickman, Clive Owen, Saskia Reeves, Karl Johnson (II), Lesley Sharp, Kate Gartside, Karen Knight (II), Niall Buggy, Campbell Morrison, Annie Hayes, Maxwell Hutcheon, Geraldine Somerville, Helen FitzGerald, Christopher Barr, Gordon Salkilld, Choy-Ling Man, John Albasiny, Marie Passarelli, Jan Winters
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Studio: Henstooth Video
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Only good for Miho Nakayama
A Beautiful And Haunting Film: Great Cinematography!
Five stars are not enough
The lover, the letter, and the beautiful backdrop of northern Japan
Gorgeously sentimental and lovely

Love Letter

Manufacturer: Japanese Import
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002IRYTA

Product Description

After her husband dies in a mountain climbing accident, widow Hiroko develops a relationship with one of his old elementary school classmates--a woman, coincidentally with the same name as him--in a desperate attempt to somehow re-connect with him.

Customer Reviews:

Only good for Miho Nakayama.......2007-05-24

Pretty boring movie. I can see how it would be critically acclaimed but on a personal level I didn't enjoy it. I just liked staring at Miho Nakayama because she's cute. Her hair's kind of short and weird but whatever, she still looks good.

There was no plot. I kept waiting and waiting until the end for something interesting to pop up but it never happened. Some girl had a fiancee who died a couple of years ago. She becomes penpal with some other girl who looks just like her. The movie flips back and forth between the two and since they are both Miho-chan I sometimes got confused. It's a pretty emo movie, sentimental stuff or some such things. I guess it's supposed to be drama and romance but I didn't find much of either.

Basically a pointless story about two penpals...there may have been some surrealism thrown in but I didn't pay attention to it. It's always surreal when you've got one person playing two roles and communicating with each other. Girls might like this movie, maybe emo guys...but normal guys won't like it and certainly not kids. Don't expect much aside from Miho-chan. Btw I was looking for spoilers after I finished the movie to see if I missed something...but there is no spoiler as there's no plot.

A Beautiful And Haunting Film: Great Cinematography!.......2007-02-26

"Love Letter," is a film my wife and I saw at a theatre together many years ago. This is one of her favorite foreign films; therefore, I usually watch it with her every once in awhile. And every time that I do I like it more. The films narrative centers on the character Hiroko Watanabe (Miho Nakayama) whose fiance died in a climbing accident. Hiroko is so grief-stricken with this loss that she writes a letter to her former lover. She does not expect an answer, as the house does not exist anymore. This is her way of dealing with her grief. A love letter that will help her move on with her life. But things get a little strange when she sends the letter.

Hiroko was told by her former fiances mother that the house no longer exists, as it was demolished to make way for a highway. However, she gets a reply. Therefore, she decides to visit the town and meet the girl who sent back the reply. Apparently her fiance had the same name as this girl: Itsuki Fujii. When Hiroko clears up the confusion, Hiroko and Itsuki begin to write to each other. Strangely, in another coincidence, Itsuki Fujii was also in the same class as Hiroko's former fiance.

And although the film is about two women [same actress] who carry on with a writing relationship [pen-pals], there is more to the film. The beautiful cinematography and the films nuances make this a very good film. On the surface this seems like a very simple film, but it is more than that. This is a very moving and touching film. One of my favorites parts of the film is the visual images of the breathtaking scenes of the Japanese landscape. Shunki Iwai did an exceptional directorial job with this film, and Miho Nakayama, whose dual portrayal of the films main protagonists, was truly magnificent. Highly recommended.

Five stars are not enough.......2006-05-22

I first saw this in 1994, and this film has stayed with me ever since. Beautiful, haunting, and moving, with a rich plot and much humor. I remember leaving the theater and thinking, "Experiences like this make life worth living."

This is a really special film. Don't miss it.

The lover, the letter, and the beautiful backdrop of northern Japan.......2006-04-25

A woman loses her fiance in an accident and begins to correspond to an old classmate of his. In her attempts to reconnect with her dead lover, the letter between her and his school friend bring back to life many ghosts of memories and unknown histories. A stirring film on the depths of the human heart.

Gorgeously sentimental and lovely.......2005-03-02

This is one of my favorite films of all time. The first film I saw by Iwai was actually not this but "Swallowtail Butterfly", which completely blew me away with its originality and sheer haunting gutsiness. After SB I wanted to see every film by this ingenious director, who, as far as I can see, is at the forefront of younger Japanese directors (though he is in his mid-forties now). Love Letter soon eclipsed SB for me, however, in terms of emotional scope and storytelling prowess. It's a rare film indeed, something I feel completely confident about recommending to absolutely everybody. There is no one who couldn't benefit from viewing this beautiful work. Some may say that it gets hokier than thou in some passages; but that is a bit of a rash view, I believe. The strength in this film is in the way it delves beneath the surface of the story so gracefully yet retains more than enough mystery to make it so memorable that you carry it with you in your imagination long after it fades to black.
Watch it.
Other highly recommended films by Shunji Iwai:
"Swallowtail Butterfly"
"Undo"
"April Story"
"All About Lily Shou-shou"

Average customer rating:

Mexican cinema??? This is Slovenian!

When I Close My Eyes
Starring: Petra Rehar , Petra Govc , Dusan Sandak , Ludvik Bagari , and Mario Selih
Director: Franci Slak
Manufacturer: Facets
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008AOS8
Release Date: 2003-03-18

Customer Reviews:

Mexican cinema??? This is Slovenian!.......2005-03-21

Not sure where the review of Mexican cinema came from. This is the first commercially distributed Slovenian film, made in 1993 by filmmaker Franci Slak who directed and co-wrote the screenplay. It's the story of a beautiful young woman in present-day Ljubljana, the capital, who works for the central government office and one day is assigned to a small post office on the outskirts of the city. During her workday, she's robbed by a dashing young man whose face is burned in her memory.

As it turns out, he remembers her also, in a startling way that the viewer discovers much later in the film. The young woman takes advantage of the robbery, becoming a criminal herself, yet reports the robbery to the police who, as usual, bungle the apprehension of the robber.

The woman's aunt, an elderly woman who's mentally losing her way, is superbly played by the actress in that role, as is the heroine and also a young man smitten with the young woman. The various threads of the story converge quite well as the film progresses, resulting in a conclusion that, while not completely satisfying, does make sense based on the character of the female lead.

Director Slak has made other films but this is the only one to break through the barriers of accessibility here in the US. It's a solidly plotted story of passion, greed, and obsession, all the juicy elements of a noir tale. And in that it succeeds. The DVD version of the film seems now to be on its way out of print, so you may want to try to nab it before it is completely unavailable.

Recommended.

I Close My Eyes & Count to Ten [Region 2]

Average customer rating:

I Close My Eyes & Count to Ten [Region 2]
Starring: Dusty Springfield
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Average customer rating:

Interesting and taboo
DISTURBING MOVIE ... BUT EXCELLENT
Weird movie... got me thinking
Kinky
What the?

Close My Eyes
Starring: Alan Rickman , Clive Owen , Saskia Reeves , Karl Johnson (II) , and Lesley Sharp
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
Manufacturer: Henstooth Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0000AOV3W
Release Date: 2003-10-14

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and taboo.......2007-05-07

Very interesting film on a taboo topic. Intense and well acted.

DISTURBING MOVIE ... BUT EXCELLENT.......2007-02-16

This movie, because of the subject matter, was done very well, and I really got wrapped up into it. I thought it was very good and am glad I got it for my movie library.

Weird movie... got me thinking.......2007-01-27

cdset said "The film is a study in contrasts and opposing forces: Alan Rickman's controlled, restrained performance is in total contrast to the fiery passion of the two lovers and the film's direct confrontation with taboos (incest, AIDS, open passion itself)slams against polite society's prevailing opinions."
Good point there. The woman seduces her player type brother... who is all over her like a rash. But in the sack with her older husband Alan Rickman she is doing all the work so to speak ... she is on top of him. No fireworks there.
The brother disapproves of her new middle class lifestyle and insinuates that her husband is dominating her, squashing her true personality. BUT when the husband works out she is having an affair, the husband gets hot. The wife decides to drop brother,now hubby is making an effort. I feel that top Billing should have gone to Clive Owen as he gets much much more screen time than Alan Rickman. Owen acted his part very well. It sort of hints at a happy ending but the woman must be some kind of kook having sex with her own brother. Will hubby ever trust her again.Will she stray again.
I found it amusing that they track down Hubby on a Saturday to see if he is really at work and when he isn't they think that he is having an affair... he is innocently stuffing his face at a local cafe. Also the fight between brother and sister at the end was amusing.

Kinky.......2006-11-23

Not only because I am Clive's biggest supporters, but this film blew me away!!!! I bought a copy and I love watching this particular movie many many times. The story line was intense and I sure would not have said no if he were my brother! OMG I got to see my sexy man nude! This movie has it all as far as I am concerned. Excellent cast and a nice story ending too.

What the?.......2006-10-22

Ok, first let me say, the reason I bought this movie was because I have come to really like Clive Owen. The first I saw him in was the BMW 'shorts' on the internet as 'The Driver'. Then in The Bourne Idenity in a small role as an assassin who was trying kill pumpkinheaded uber assassin Matt Damon. Then I saw Closer and The Inside Man and really enjoyed him in both of these movies. So, I decided to look up some of his other work. I came across Close My Eyes. I also like Allen Rickman so I thought I would check it out. It started out pretty cut and dry, I thought. I mean here is womanizing Clive comforting his 'female friend' who is depressed from being jilted. He tries to cheer her up and I am thinking "ok, now they are going to realize that they are made for each other." Well, they share a passionate kiss and then.... "I'm sorry. You're my kid brother..." WHAT THE ****?!!! Ok, so now I am passed the shock and this movie goes from year to year or several years of the brother and sister and their 'relationship'. Allen Rickman is the man she falls in love with and eventually marries. It is certainly a tangled web and a strage story. I thought it was ok but it was... just an ok movie with a weird twist.

Average customer rating:

Interesting and taboo
DISTURBING MOVIE ... BUT EXCELLENT
Weird movie... got me thinking
Kinky
What the?

Close My Eyes [Region 2]
Starring: Alan Rickman , Clive Owen , Saskia Reeves , Karl Johnson (II) , and Lesley Sharp
Director: Stephen Poliakoff
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
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ASIN: B0001KZN92

Customer Reviews:

Interesting and taboo.......2007-05-07

Very interesting film on a taboo topic. Intense and well acted.

DISTURBING MOVIE ... BUT EXCELLENT.......2007-02-16

This movie, because of the subject matter, was done very well, and I really got wrapped up into it. I thought it was very good and am glad I got it for my movie library.

Weird movie... got me thinking.......2007-01-27

Kinky.......2006-11-23

What the?.......2006-10-22

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