Laundry (2002) Reviews

• Laundry for your heart: Wash away the pain!

  ethSin2008-05-11

  Imagine... "Laundry" is a heartwarming story about Teru, a young man who suffered a brain injury at youth and Mizue, a single woman with many problems of her own. The setting of this film is extremely unlikely, but the attraction between these two were very convincing and beautiful. I absolutely loved the atmosphere of this movie, it was very calm at start, and really made me feel warm inside during the second half. Kubozuka Yousuke is my favorite actor, and he once again delivers an amazing performance. His portrayal of a pure hearted and honest young man really inspired me. Koyuki, who I generally thought to be a weak actress was surprisingly good in this movie, she was beautiful and fit the dark role perfectly. I was really able to sympathize with her character when she was sad, and inspired when she was doing her best to change. Naitou Takashi, who played "Sally" was also very entertaining with his serious yet comedic role. This is a slow movie, but time just flew by for me. I was completely absorbed to the story. It was insanely well-directed with an excellent flow. Direction in this film may be the best I have ever seen. There were also few comedic reliefs that really helped. Music was also perfect, simple and touching. Acting, story, music, cinematography... all perfect, an easy 10/10. There were couple of scenes that were extremely memorable, and I cried three times. The greatness of this film can't be described by words, you must see it for yourself.

• An example of brilliant Japanese movie-making

  countzero812005-01-14

  I've seen many Asian movies and of course I agree that a European audience might need some 'training' to full enjoy cinematography from the far east. But this movie is different, though the time-line is typically Japanese, the storyline is simple and linear and the flow of the events doesn't contain real surprises, this movie succeeds in creating a strong affection among the audience and the characters: at the end of this movie, you'll miss them because you'll feel like you know them. Even though very intense and romantic, this movie includes very funny scenes and characters that let you relax and laugh a little. This is my favorite movie and I hope it will make you feel the way I feel every time a watch it.

• Laundry of lonely souls

  Gigo_Satana2005-05-16

  Primitively speaking, there are too many bad movies with happy endings and unfortunately fewer good movies with sad or convincingly well crafted happy endings. Not that either comparison applies to Laundry, it's just that lately I have been pleasantly exposed to some extremely touching films that ended on rather gloomy notes, causing me for a change to crave more heartwarming tales of romance that even through expected sorrow and frustration managed to end benevolently. So I began watching Laundry and the first thing I noticed were the characteristics of the male lead named Teru played by Kubozuka, who for a nice change wasn't suffering from spasms or speech impediment, that we so typically are subjected to in similar drama pieces. Still with such a condition his setbacks aren't exaggerated nor is he stripped down to looking like a helplessly poor individual. Also gone is the sometimes overly dramatized cruel world of physical and verbal abusers, replaced with people who actually share their life stories with Teru and in return listen to his. Next is Mizue, played by Koyuki, who shines with modesty, although her on and off depressing ways hint for deep scars that she might be carrying inside, symbolically mirroring the real scar on Teru's head which caused him to be the way he is. Without giving away too much detail, their interactions are played off with essentially good chemistry. Koyuki is extremely beautiful and radiates subtle emotions with simple expressions and smiles. The story with her younger sister is very affecting in its short time. Ultimately I was pleased with how this film turned out, mainly how it avoided the very noticeable and frustrating digression of the story as seen in the Korean film Windstruck, which not only ruined the flow of the entire film, but radically replaced humor with tragedy. Laundry maintains all those elements harmoniously, letting them naturally float and complement the changes that the two characters go through. Give this film a try and hopefully you'll find it even more touching than I did.

• Nice and Sweet

  famousgrouse2006-03-01

  I actually got this movie as a Valentine's present, and now I'm pretty sure she loves me. :D Laundry is about boy meets girl. Boy has some issues due to an injury he suffered as a kid, girl has some issues too from a break-up she had a while earlier. This movie is about the search for everyday happiness. It tells us we all might have something bothering us from the past but we should cherish the moments that have been given us, everyday, every moment of our lives. Teru, the boy, shows this with his pure innocence, his ignorance maybe of what life is about. His thoughts and actions makes us see we do not need a lot to be happy. Mizue, the girl, on the other hand offers us another perspective; she is aware of being a reject and tries to fit in, without success. When she meets Teru she realises that is not the key to happiness. The cinematography of this movie is great with nice use of colours. The soundtrack totally fits the mood of the movie, the acting is also of great quality. It all adds up to a sweet and touching story on.. Life.

• If the mood strikes you this is a very sweet romantic comedy

  dbborroughs2005-08-06

  A young man, who's mentally handicapped, meets a young woman, with a great deal of baggage, at the laundry where he works and they fall in love. This is a very quirky love story that was exactly what I wasn't in the mood for when I watched it. Still I stayed with it, so I laughed and cried a bit with these very quirky characters. I'm of two minds about this movie. I want to say that this isn't a bad movie, which I know sounds like a backhanded compliment. But its the truth, its not a bad movie, so I feel rather bad having anything less than sterling about it. My problem is that the film is almost too quirky (A term I hate but unfortunately is the only thing that comes to mind when I think about this movie). Everyone is a "character" with quirky (forgive me) traits. This isn't bad, its just that I felt that my cup runneth over, especially when the film runs just over two hours. At the same time you have to love a movie that treats its characters as individuals. I loved the fact that even though Teru, our hero, is handicapped he doesn't twitch or convulse or speak in a funny voice. He's just this guy, which is something that can be said about all of the characters, they just are. I also loved that the course of events seemed natural to the place that the story happens in, we don't have any weird twists at the end to make it more sad or more happy, its just what it is and it somehow makes sense. I liked this but I wanted to love it. Certainly you should take a chance and see it if you come across it since it is quite good, though if you watch it like me, at one thirty in the morning, it may not hold your attention the way it should. (Comments subject to change pending second viewing)