Storyline: Sweet Little Lies 2010 The film sets you thinking from the onset, and youll be wondering whether it is a requisite for couples to share common interests in order to bind them together and sustain a relationship Obviously both Satoshi and Kuriko share very little interests together, which makes it baffling how they managed to hook up in the first place, and staying married without a single quarrel over 3 years and counting Some of us subscribe to that being a little bit fantastical, and are more convinced that arguments are inevitable and sometimes do lead to a better understanding Youll also start to wonder if rising costs of living meant a child is out of the picture now, and whether physical intimacy does play that big a role as the glue, here one being unwilling to initiate, and the other being more interested in video games and music and secretly I think yearning the singlehood life where you have the liberty to do what you want, when you want, without consulting anyone else Both leads Omori and Nakatani present their stark differences in characters really well, having to sit on the fence in preferring the status quo, yet being unable and unwilling to assert for something more as we can observe from their nuanced performance As the film alludes to, no relationship can survive without passion nor truth, which the narrative takes this litmus test on Its different interests in each other in contrast to that of their respective stalkers at the early point when they come into the picture who shower their mark with plenty of much needed attention, like Miura Chizuru Ikewaki planting ideas onto Satochi with lunches every Wednesdays on her off days to meetings at nights, and Haruo Junichi Kobayashi increasingly bumping into Kuriko out of sheer coincidence, attending her bear product show versus her husbands absence which translates to not giving two hoots about supporting his wife, preferring to spend time in a virtual video game world Its a marriage, or any relationship for that matter, doomed to failure with the writing already on the wall Yazakis film challenges you to pass judgement, and it is this challenge thats not easy to do Youll be confronted with a very wide incident base and scenes that knock on your beliefs, deciding how guilty is the guilty, and whos to blame in any expected fallout should it happen On one hand youre provoked to point fingers, yet on the other youre rooting for the couple to somehow work out their differences or face utter destruction in their 3 years of spending their lives together, but despite knowing if it ends it should end, rather than to drag it out With infidelity being cited as a key reason why couples separate, you want to get in on laying the blame, but only through careful thought as its easy to point fingers on either, yet it takes two hands to clap It confronts your fundamental beliefs in the institution of marriage, especially what constitutes cheating the desire, of not telling the other if something is not quite what it seems, or the deed itself Which is more severe, cheating involving the body, mind or both How do you draw the line, especially if Im coming from the husband being quite the selfish chauvinist in not wanting to give up a little bit of time off his pursuits to help or support his wife This in itself could be used as justification why someone will want to stray, then again, if the fundamentals are strong, who would See the dilemma, which Yazaki continues to present throughout the film We even hear a warning shot early in the film given by Kuriko, together with plenty of red herring moments, but we again see the double standards practiced One of the key questions as the film inches its way to the finale, will be whether the couple can maintain status quo as per the title in keeping their sweet little lies to themselves, or as part of matrimony decide to tell each other the truth Will they be better off in doing so and living up to an honest relationship, or will ignorance still continue to provide that bliss We learn guilt has already set in, yet didnt see whether both Satochi and Kuriko will be learning from their lessons The film raises questions, but youre left on your own devices to provide the answer, which is never immediate For those in relationships, this film plants that fear factor into you, questioning how much you know and trust someone else, and for those who are not, well, did this film set in motion that a trustworthy relationship is something of a pipe dreamId like to reckon this film like an anti thesis and companion piece to Wong Kar wais In the Mood for Love, where a couple meets and contemplates a relationship because their spouses are cheating on them with each other In this one, we go over to the other side and observe what happens when both spouses cheat on each other, yet remain quite ambivalent about it all, each keeping their own titular sweet little lies One film is steep in romanticism, while this one presents a frightfully possible reality through its cast performances and composition cinematography under Isao Ishii is beautiful that masks the underlying currents of a troubled relationship Definitely one of the best films Ive seen this year
Sweet Carolina (2021)
Marketing executive, Josie, returns home when she becomes the unexpected guardian of her niece and nephew While there, she reconnects with Cooper, her high school boyfriend
Last Summer in the Hamptons (1995)
This moving story was the swan song of actress Viveca Lindfors, who died unexpectedly soon after completing it Its a fitting tribute, as the film explores the last performance in the ancestral home of a large family of actors
The Blacksmith (1922)
Buster Keaton shoes horses and repairs cars, with mixed results
The Musketeer (2001)
Alexander Dumas novel is updated with an eastern influence as DArtagnan attempts to join the kings elite guards, the Royal Musketeers, and find the man who killed his parents
Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)
The history of nuclear weapons between 1945 until 1963
Every Mothers Worst Fear (1998)
Martha Hoagland is suffering through her parents divorce Feeling lonely, she turns to an online chat room Martha believes she is chatting with a young man who cares for her, when in reality she is chatting with an Internet pred
Against the Wild 2013
Two siblings and their devoted dog become lost in the wilderness and must learn how to combine their skills, trust their instincts and navigate a terrain as beautiful as it is untamed
Wuthering Heights (1970)
Doomed lovers Catherine and Heathcliff are torn apart by their own selfishness and hate
Me You Madness (2021)
A young thief cases an architectural dream house in Malibu, not realizing it is the home of an eccentric female serial killer
Step (2017)
STEP documents the senior year of a girls high school step dance team against the background of inner city Baltimore
Sionna (2015)
An adopted Irish American artist confronts her past when both sets of parents come together over a weekend for her to paint a family portrait
Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day (2009)
The boys return from jail to find the park has deteriorated, with a brand new park being created beside it They attempt a series of get rich quick schemes and robberies, while a freshly drunk Lahey threatens to derail their plans
Adam Resurrected (2008)
In the aftermath of World War II, a former circus entertainer who was spared from the gas chamber becomes the ringleader at an asylum for Holocaust survivors
Sang Krasue (2019)
In a far away village, lived an innocent teenage girl, Sai who later discovered herself inheriting the curse of Krasue At night, her head would detach from her body and hunts for flesh and blood Villagers are terrified by th
Where Are You Bucharest (2014)
Vlad Petri followed the Romanian protesters who occupied the streets of Bucharest in 2012 A poignant documentary about people who are devastated and impulsive, lost and encouraged, all at once And about a revolution that becomes