Shara

An extremely slow-paced film, but if you can get past this initial psychological blocking factor, there's something captivating and rewarding about the long mesmeric scenes Kawase captures (including her own childbirth on film). They key perhaps is finding the beauty in the stillness and simplicity of life that is happening all around us. A refreshing film, although this vérité style has arguably been done better by others.

A slow-paced sober film about family, life & love in a Japanese provincial town, quiet and spiritual (imdb)

i love the genre of "kinda boring flick with a dancing scene that you remember forever". unlike Bande a Part, i didnt want every single character to die in this, so i like it more.

Kawase's style -- with the camera on her hands, observing everything with a quiet but urgent look, through long shots -- gives us pure, tender footage about an ordinary urban family, both happy and incomplete. The sequence of the Shara parade is pure bliss.