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I'm still moping over losing on balloting for V6 concert tickets (which I so looked forward to but now it's just poof, gone). So, in consolation, I'm watching Genji Monogatari. If I have to describe Genji Monogatari in one word, that word has got to be 'beautiful.' Yes, it's because this movie is beautiful in every single frames, from scenery, all the way to the angsts. No matter how many times I watch this movie (yes, I watched it more than 3 times already), it's still beautiful, and you get to notice more details as you watch it again and again. Story wise, compared to the literature Tales of Genji itself, the movie sort of picking out only the beautiful part of the story and left out the not so pleasing to general public (eg. the lolita story) part. And in this movie, Genji Monogatari is told as a story written by Shikibu Murasaki under the order of Lord Michinaga.
When I mean beautiful, it's literally beautiful. There's no ugly looking cast here. Even the monks are above average looking for monks. There's no question about the costumes, the settings and backgrounds. It's more beautiful when it accompanied by good acting. I love Tanaka Rena's acting as Lady Rokujo. She's very endearing and her love obsession is so strong that you'd get pulled to her whirlpool of emotions and desires.
One caution if you have a strong feminism thinking, you may find this movie or even the tale of Genji itself very disturbing. You have to remember that the setting is on Heian period. It's the era when women literally has no say over men aka men can happily visit women's 'room' and 'do' his thing, and the women just accept it as is and it's even get romanticized by poems. If this were to happen in current time, the guy will be held in court under charge of rape, sexual harassment, etc. But if you set aside this aspect, the story is about love and how love consumes people's mind and body.
When I mean beautiful, it's literally beautiful. There's no ugly looking cast here. Even the monks are above average looking for monks. There's no question about the costumes, the settings and backgrounds. It's more beautiful when it accompanied by good acting. I love Tanaka Rena's acting as Lady Rokujo. She's very endearing and her love obsession is so strong that you'd get pulled to her whirlpool of emotions and desires.
One caution if you have a strong feminism thinking, you may find this movie or even the tale of Genji itself very disturbing. You have to remember that the setting is on Heian period. It's the era when women literally has no say over men aka men can happily visit women's 'room' and 'do' his thing, and the women just accept it as is and it's even get romanticized by poems. If this were to happen in current time, the guy will be held in court under charge of rape, sexual harassment, etc. But if you set aside this aspect, the story is about love and how love consumes people's mind and body.
A new say to start a movie. You beautify and romanticize a rape scene. The cap is the end of it, and it's bloody beautiful, right? But, the beginning is disturbing. And the funny thing is that Lord Michinaga asked Murasaki to write Genji Monogatari with him as the character and the name of the character is Hikaru... after the 'business.'
This is where Genji Monogatari, the story, starts... 
Change of season, depicted beautifully... it's like what we normally see in those beautiful documentaries...
Chibi Hikaru Genji. The kid really looks like a doll! Wonder if he's a Johnny's in the making...
And that kid grows up to be a hottie...
I like the emperor's first wife expressions. Her expressions are in the range from hatred, jealousy, arrogance and loathing. But you know beneath that exterior lies a sadness and thirst of the emperor's love.
Love Lady Fujitsubo's expression when she saw Hikaru's shadow behind the blinds.
Lord Michinaga's asking for 'seconds' but this time he got rejected flatly by the author.
Nothing good will come up if the moon is red...
Capping this because Toma is beautiful...
Notes to Nino, this is what you call kissing, please practice and act the kissing scene (if there'll be any) in your future drama
And we have the lots of different expression of Lady Rokujo, from desperation of love, clinging to her love, agony over her love, obsession over her love, in the brink of sanity over her love, and all of these are just because of 1 man, Hikaru Genji...
Another beautiful scenes...
The moment when Hikaru realized that Lady Aoi has passed away.
Uh Oh, nothing good will come out from this gloomy sky and the lady in waiting fervently praying for forgiveness over her lady's sin...
The unforgettable sin...
another beautiful change of season..
The tear of guilt...This 1 scene, the departing of Murasaki from the court shows that every single frame of this movie are beautiful...
The moon is so lonely...
n the end Hikaru is alone, the women who loves, loved him are gone from his side...
Hikaru met his creator...
The beautiful yet sad scene...
The end...
One thing I notice... since Hikaru Genji is only a character of a story of Genji Monogatari in the movie, I have the impression that Ikuta Toma's screen time is lesser than Higashiyama's, am I seeing wrongly here? LOL...
And we still have the trailer on Youtube!
And we still have the trailer on Youtube!
