User Reviews

Ken Takakura gives a heart felt magical performance as an aging railroad station master closing out his time on the job looking back on his life around the anniversary of the death of his young daughter. Magical little story had me tearing up at the end as this beautiful film came to a close. Takakura is wonderful as the title character who has spent most of his life living in a small post at the end of the line in the wilds of Japan. To be certain the story is ultimately cliché as we have our hero looking back over his life and regretting the choices he made and facing an uncertain future, but at the same time there is something about this film, the performances, the photography , the music, that really sells the story and moves you. Its a wonderful little hidden gem of a film that is going on to me list of films that were wondrous discoveries this year. To be certain its not the best film but it is a heart warming, at times heart breaking, little film that deserves to be seen. (Those who love trains need to see this since the scenes of the trains in action make this a truly magical film to watch, after all there is nothing like watching trains in the country in the snow.)

(Spoilers herein)

It is so easy to swallow the myth that a film such as Poppoya would be dull, slow, with nothing happening. Slow maybe, in a way, but that depends on your definition. It's certainly not slow in the sense that there are shots that last for minutes showing someone just meditating. Nothing happening again depends on your perception. In a way, there's always something happening throughout the film. Dull? Certainly not, and there are many reasons.

The story is told in a way that is simple, but not simplistic. The main plot (for want of a better word), father-and-daughter, does not dominate the story and is only sumblimely suggested until close to the end. The main theme, the man's total dedication to his job, is indeed present throughout but is reflected off, and enhanced by many people, relationships and events around him. Flashbacks are used effectively. From these various angles and reflections, we see the many dimensions of this railroad man who seem to be rather monotonous initially.

Ironically, the key relationship of this man, with his daughter, is the most abstract. That it is so deeply moving obscures the fact that he never really knows her, as she was dead at infancy. The recreation of the three stages of her would-be life is so beautifully done, however, that the last scene becomes irresistable. A fundamental building block of this relationship is an Asian concept that has no equivalent in the West, the concept of loving, respecting, honouring, caring for, repaying (very poor choice of word but I can't think of another) and obeying (not necessarily blindly)the parents, all embodied in a single word "hau". (No cheap puns of "how?" please.)

There are many other relationships that are equally engaging: his wife, his life-long friend, people in the small town, the orphan whom he cares for. There are funny, uplifting, as well as poignant moments. Obviiously, tears flow free all around in the last scene with his daughter, or the ghost of his daughter, to be exact. However, the scene that really had me choked is another one. This is a telephone conversation he has with his buddy's son, who has become a reasonably senior executive in the head office of the railroad company. He is trying to see if there's any way to salvage the scraping of the train service to this remote, dwindling mining town but unfortunately, there's nothing the young man can do. It's the agonising helplessness of the young man and the railroad man's understanding of the other's helplessness, despite his own crashing disappointment, that really get me.

The cinematography is nothing short of breathtaking. The scenes of the snow-covered, dying mining town bring back memories of similar towns in Northern Ontario. The music is wonderful. I seem to remember that the tune his wife is humming along the railway track is Tennessee Waltz.

The entire cast is absolutely perfect. When I later saw Black Rain again, I realised that Ken Takakura (the railroad man) played against Michael Douglas in that one. Ryoko Hirosue(the daughter at the last stage) got considerable exposure playing opposite Jean Reno in Wasabi (2001). One of her movies that I would highly recommend is Mimitsu or Secret (1999). Without bringing in a spoiler, I would just say that her performance in a very challenging role is simply superb.