Noriko's Dinner Table

***** (5 Stars)

"Noriko's Dinner Table" is the follow up to "Suicide Club" and I absolutely loved this movie. Everything I like about movies and literature are wrapped up in this movie.

If you love philosophy (especially eastern philosophy), psycho-drama, suspense, deeply relational movies, and either speak Japanese or don't mind subtitles, this is the perfect movie for you. If not, you probably won't like it much. This movie will undoubtedly go far over the heads of the majority of viewers, not because they won't understand it, more probably it will be an attention span problem. Clocking in at 159 minutes, I don't expect many people to put in the effort, but I did and am very happy that I did. If you watch this right and catch the important bits, the ending will make you gasp. You really don't know what's going to happen.



Spoilers ahead-

Here's an interesting note, Noriko is the name of the girl, she describes her name as meaning a foreign perfume, but actually the Japanese name Norika has to do with perfume. Noriko means Order/Law child. Possibly to show her own ignorance of her self, her misunderstanding of even her own name.

Mitsuko, Noriko's adopted name and possibly Kumiko's real name means child of the light, possibly a reason why Kumiko is referred to as the Sun Goddess at one point. Similar in nature to Amun-Ra perhaps.

Yuka, the younger daughters name actually means fragrant, when put into context of the story and Noriko's misunderstanding of her own name meaning something with perfume, becomes all kinds of interesting.
Yoko Could be Sunshine Child also.
Yoko (with a short vowel 'o') occurs rarely as a Japanese name. In such cases, it may be written with the characters for "reputation; praise; honor; glory" (yo) and "child" (ko). Other possibilities include "substitute; change; replace; period; era; generation" (ko) and "child" (ko).
However, Yoko is a common English transcription of the widely spread Japanese name Youko (pronounced with a long vowel 'o').
The Japanese name Youko may be written with the characters for "sunshine" (you) and "child" (ko). Other possibilities include "ocean" or "leaf" for 'you' and "child" (ko). Youko is pronounced with a long vowel 'o'.

Tetsuzo, the fathers name probably comes from Tetsu- meaning philosophy. I don't know the meaning of the added 'zo', but it is possibly due to Tetsuzo being an identifiable name, having the link to philosophy. Tetsuzo's role in the film definitely takes a philosophical turn, whether it be his allegorical cave like expansion of his understanding of the world beyond his small town, to his desire to understand things that he himself has no use for "eg suicide club" in order to further his goals. He wants his family back, but learns to accept them for what they are, and not what he wishes them to be. He becomes the very essence of Zen Philosophy in a sense.

Taeko, the mothers name reflects who she eventually views herself to be. Seemingly self satisfied in having such a "happy family", her art reflects her own distorted view of her life. Eventually the discord between her identity as Taeko, the child of many blessings, and the reality of her life as a woman with two runaway children and a distant husband becomes to much for her, eventually resulting in her suicide.
The Japanese name Taeko may be written with the characters for "many; much" (ta), "blessing; grace; favor" (e) and "child" (ko). Other possibilities include the characters for "strange; unusual; superb; excellent" (tae) and "child" (ko).

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Think "Rashomon" meets "walking a mile in her shoes". Taking a cue from existentialist karma, the characters must live within each others lives in order to forgive each other and themselves. "Yuka", or whomsoever she becomes in the end, in the end finds neither "reality" or "self delusion", simply will experience her new role as an experiencer. In the beginning, she was victim to her fathers, sisters, and mothers selfishness. Yuka is the rabbit, in the end she becomes the lion. It is not the choice that is the goal, as in western cinema, but the path she will experience will be hers. There is no goal, there is no "quixotic quest", there is no reality, there is no Suicide Club.

That's part of what I get from it anyway.
I would expect only a small percentage of people to enjoy this film, but we each have our roles to play.
Recommended most for people who neither like nor dislike any movies.