CountZero313 When a twenty-something NEET is sent by his father to clean out the apartment of his estranged aunt, 53-year-old Matsuko, he becomes intrigued by the life story of this reclusive, shabby, old-before-her-time woman. As he pieces together her life, he unlocks various family secrets, and learns a thing or two about his own life.Tetsuya Nakashima's film is energetic and thoughtful, in turns hilarious and deeply moving. It's hyper-stylised, with Technicolor vividly utilized, song-and-dance numbers, and some schlock violence straight from the Nikkatsu back catalogue. But it all gels into a magical whole. Interestingly, there is a sly poke at the Showa-nostalgia genre enjoying a contemporary flurry in Japan, the pastiche of the visuals undercut by the brutalities the economic and social mores of the time inflict on Matsuko. The fact that she meets her fate at the hands of the feral children of Heisei is no random element.Miki Nakatani has matured into Japan's most fascinating and watchable actress, the combination of beauty and vulnerability never more alluring than in her portrayal here. But it is Nakashima's slick script, elliptical structuring, and especially his brisk editing that make this film so special. I was singing 'makete, nobashite' for days afterward. One of the best Japanese films of the 21st century.

David Wildgoose It's difficult to truly describe what this film is other than to say it has to be experienced in order to really understand. It blends comedy interspersed with occasional animations so as to lighten up what would otherwise be an almost unrelentingly dark and tragic story of a young woman's desperate yearning to be loved despite abuse and misunderstandings.The leading actress (Miki Nakatani) is superb playing her character from wide-eyed innocent onwards, having in effect to play several different parts.The closest film in both style and substance is probably the film "Malèna" starring Monica Bellucci - the style being sufficiently close as to perhaps suggest that it may even have been an inspiration.Worth watching.

acerk21 I have seen a lot of films in my day from many different eras and countries and I have to say that "Memories of Matsuko" is right up there with the best of them. This masterpiece is so original, so entertaining, and so tragic that its hard to deny its brilliance! The two movies I've heard people compare it to the most are "Moulin Rouge!" and "Amelie". This is a correct assessment, but in my opinion, Matsuko's the far better picture! The film revolves around the life of Matsuko who is deprived of her father's love as a child. She realizes that the only way to get her father's attention and affection is to degrade herself (by making that silly face). This develops into a bad habit as she progresses in life and whenever she is faced with being alone, she chooses the demeaning path, because that's what worked with her father. We soon see her as a prostitute, a Yakuza girl, and in several abusive relationships. What's even more heart-breaking is the fact that Matsuko tries to make the best out of every situation but it somehow always ends in tragedy. She gives and gives while asking for almost nothing in return and that's what makes it so easy to sympathize with her.The character of Matsuko is brilliantly played by the beautiful, Miki Nakatani. I've never seen anything from her before, but this film proves that she is one of the top actresses in Japan if not the world! The director, Tetsuya Nakashima, really brought out the best in her and it's a shame that the two don't get along and will most likely never work together again. Asuka Kurosawa who plays the character of "Megumi" also gives a noteworthy performance. I personally think the movie is at its best when she's in it! It really is a disgrace that this film didn't win the Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture that year! The Academy is obviously brainless for picking "Hula Girls" to win while "Memories of Matsuko" didn't even get recognized with a nomination!?! Talk about an injustice! Switching gears, I did have a few minor problems with the film. First of all, there's this childhood lullaby song that plays one too many times throughout the course of the movie. By the end, you get really tired of hearing it,…at least I did! Another problem I had was how Matsuko died. The film builds it up as a whodunit and when we finally find out who the killer is, the conclusion is far less important, powerful, or striking than expected. Several other reviewers commented that the film drags at the end and they're right! I think 5-10 minutes of editing would have made it flow better.As for the positive, there's a lot to love here! The music scenes are great and the songs are very catchy! The acting, story, cinematography, visual effects, and direction are all top-notch! Another thing that's great with this film is that it's re-watchable! I've probably seen it 10 times and I still haven't gotten tired of it.At the time of this review (9 / 2009), there's no DVD in Region 1 that I'm aware of and that really is too bad! This film deserves a lot more prestige than its currently getting and its bizarre that its almost unknown in the United States! "Memories of Matsuko" will stay with you days after watching it. Whether you're into artsy films or mindless action movies, I think there's a lot here for any type of person to enjoy! Highly Recommended!!! 10/10!

badidosh Like an amalgam of "Amelie," "Big Fish" and pretty much every depressing movie there is, "Memories of Matsuko" is simultaneously a charming and heartbreaking lampoon to the disgraced roles of women in Japanese cinema set amidst the world of Japanese kitsch, AV idols, and Yakuza gang members. Tetsuya Nakamura's genuinely heartfelt saga, charting her tragic heroine's life before she is found murdered in a grassy area not far from her slipshod apartment, at the very least superficially recalls Danny Boyle's "Slumdog Millionaire" in as much as that both films' leads, mere victims of bad choices and circumstances, struggle to find the true meaning of joy in their godforsaken lives, as it is that the narratives are mostly told in flashbacks and driven by a fractured timeline.In the present day, a gruffly obese Matsuko Kawajiri (Miki Nakatani) is found murdered and Shou Kawajiri (Eita), her nephew by her estranged brother (Teruyuki Kagawa), is tasked by his father to clean her apartment after her cremation. He never saw her before but there, meeting Matsuko's raucous punk neighbor (Gori) and the chief suspect for her aunt's slaying (Yusuke Iseya) who provide clues to her aunt's identity, he gradually pieces the unbelievably hard-knock adventures of her departed aunt. As the film explores Matsuko's constantly frustrating search for happiness with the right man, it becomes a surprisingly bittersweet love story interspersed with musical numbers running the gamut from Christian hymns to cheeky J-pop tunes.Following his brazen though a bit hollow "Kamikaze Girls," writer-director Nakamura, a veteran of TV commercials, conveys the vaudeville-style film with gloriously saturated colors, highly diffused lighting, and a blistering cacophony of Nipponese pop culture to define Matsuko's epitonic past that sometimes, it feels as though the audacious employment of visual smorgasbord threaten to derail the emphasis from its characters. Still, Nakamura's direction is blissful, preoccupied by the premise that the constant pursuit for love and affection eventually pays dividends -- though sometimes in less expected ways -- as established early in the film's opening credit sequence that recalls classic musicals and in Nakitani's happy pap-pap trot in La La Land. It's Utopian thinking but its groundwork on the chronic impediment of the feminine role in a male-dominated culture and the ability of selfless pursuit to decimate that stigma is authentic and beautiful.