What is this movie about?

I know.....and the book.....it seemed to be leading somewhere and then there was no mention of it. What do you think?

I think you have missed the very essence of the film...................Psyk

I will agree with a previous user that this film let me to the realm of the imagination about the characters, but only in my sleep about 20 minutes into the film. This man is not impressed! Good coinage spent on a bottle of coke to keep me amused for the first 20 minutes!!!!!

The real question should be, How do people with the attention spans of fruit flies and the education of second graders stumble upon these kind of films? How did you even find the time to break away from the X-Box and MTV to watch this film? You'd probably find spending your time a bit easier by staying away from complex art and sticking to the color by numbers children's book your mommy got for you. Or at least enroll in a remedial elementary English class before venturing too far onto the 'net.

This film has no meaning, no plot and no moral searches for life so what is goin on. this really was the worse film I have ever seen in my life. Unlike a lot of films there is no moral hidden in the film.
Everyone I went with to see this film said they did not like it. Thats bad as we are a bunch of film geaks.

i agree in saying that this film totally leaves its viewers to interpret the meanings behind the images we are presented. it's funny to think that that's where most of the frustration lies. by having an audience so used to films that are plot-driven, blockbuster hits (myself being one of them), the viewers (out of their natural intellectual impulses) are quick to interpret this film's unnatural compositions and minimal dialogue as "high-art" cinema seemingly made for our torture in trying to comprehend what the heck we are watching (see david lynch ;p). but we need to "reset our minds" as the film stated, and get past all that.

what is this movie about? that would be hard to say, as everyone's interpretation is subjective, including the director's. but i think that's the great thing about films like these. i personally loved the organic compositions and long takes. goodness, i don't even know how long that first shot of yoko talking on the phone in her apartment was, but it was brilliant. the subtle camera movements motivated only so much to keep her in frame, not even thinking of cutting to the landlady when she knocks on her door since she wasn't as important to the scene.

and how the almost unapparent emotions of the characters forces the viewer to invest their "own" emotions for them. yoko's dad feeling rather distressed about her sudden pregnancy, still cared for her dearly, and sharing his potatoes with her as they sat in silence eating was as much as he could display. and hajime, yoko's train fanatic friend, who has always loved her and will always be there for her regardless of her pregnancy with another man, illustrates his feelings for her through delicate cues, most obviously affectionate when he finds yoko sleeping on the train, and simply stands over her, smiling.

and the list goes on, but these are just my 2cents. i hope someone enjoyed this film just as much as i did.

Strange to reference Gosford Park in terms of this movie.

I just watched this last night (hopefully some folks still visit this board to read my word of wisdom :-) Anyway, I agree there was little in the way of plot, substance or character development, but I, like poster Stacey Ng, found this movie curiously absorbing and, ultimately, uplifting. There was just something comforting and relaxing about watching Yoko go through the daily routine of her life. Hard to put a finger on it, but I ended up liking the movie and will watch it again some day.

One other point. There seems to be an under-current to the discussion in this thread that there are only two types of movies: big-budget blockbusters (Iron Man) and high-concept art films (Cafe Lumiere), and that if you dislike the latter than the only type of movie you could possibly enjoy is the former. Sorry folks, but it's not that simple. There are plenty of interesting, well-made, plot-driven movies out there that don't involve explosions or super heroes. I just saw "Vicky Christina Barcelona" over the weekend and enjoyed it a lot, even though it had (a) a plot (b) character developemt and (c) no exploions (though there was a bit of gunplay.) Let's show a little flexibility in our thinking, OK?
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I don't rattle, kid. But just for that, I'm gonna beat you flat.

Hou Hsiao Hsien, as well as Tsai Ming-Liang or Lisandro Alonso, are certainly among those modern minimalist names, too.

This is film is not "about". What is life about?

Even the closest thing to a "plot", which is the book she is writing, does not get a "special treatment" by the narrative, then she pursues her "dramatic objective" in the same way that we all would do in our lives: among plenty of other actions. So you're not going to see the stereotyped concatenation of scenes: "she wants to write a book about a musician, then she is in a place where she can find information about this musician, then we SEE her writing, then she keeps on reasearching and live fantastic things on this great adventure of writing a book, then she finishes the book or not, and WE SPECTATORS NEED TO KNOW WHAT TH HELL HAPPENNED TO THE BOOK!"... come on.