Summary: Cafe Lumiere is a Japanese film by a Taiwanese director. Follows the snippet of life when a young Japanese woman finds out she's pregnant by her long-distance Taiwanese boyfriend and her relationship with her parents as they learn the news. She also encounters and befriends a local used bookstore clerk who they share a low level crush on each other.Comments: The shots and cinematography used felt a bit to me like Chinese director Wong Kar Wai with extensive scenes comprised of long static shots and lingering and silent moments. Unfortunately unlike the famous Wong Kari Wai's movies, this one dragged on for so long without the movement of the story to capture my attention at all. You could go on for long stretches of the film with no speech, just watching people hang clothes or eating.
Unlike a movie such as the Vietnamese-made The Scent of Green Papaya where long lingering and silent shots account for the establishment of a character and emotion, the ones in Cafe Lumiere just dwells on repeated everyday moments that does not move the story, characters or enjoyment of the film at all. Thoroughly boring, a movie that felt pretentious trying to feel expansive and deep by trying to be minimalist and simple....in the end it didn't capture anything except my Fast Forward button and finally Eject.
Score: 1.5 out of 5
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