Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida [冷静と情熱のあいだ] Review: Calmi Cuori Appassionati (Between Calm and [Rating: 6/10] Review: Calmi Cuori Appassionati (Between Calm and Passion) is a rich and powerful look at the gentleness of love. There had been a few reviews that believed this film wasn�t as elegant as I thought it was. I believe I have figured out why they felt the way they did. Most, and I mean most, will walk away from this film with a longing for a bit more. A bit more from the story, a bit more from the drama, and a bit more from the characters. What you will have to understand however, is exactly what the title means and what you are to expect.
Calm, a word that goes hand in hand with words like serene, easiness, and subtlety. The story of Calmi Cuori Appassionati lies deep within the thoughts of its understated characters. With Florence, Italy as the story�s romantic backdrop, we first meet the quiet and troubled Junsei Agata, played by the popular Japanese idol Yutaka Takenouchi. Despite having a great future ahead of him and a loving girlfriend, Junsei can�t seem to let go of his shaky past. His beautiful ex-girlfriend Aoi, played by the lovely Kelly Chen, was everything in his life, but due to a complicated misunderstanding, their wonderful love life came to an abrupt end. This is in essence the plot for what I believe is one of the most underrated dramas to come out of Asia.
Using a few, yet well-crafted flashback scenes of Junsei�s days with Aoi in Japan, the viewers are eased slowly into the film. The way the couples� relationship begins is so much like other films. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl. But what makes it so great is the way the film works in the �calm� and understated feel. The pure innocence of the couple is magical and insanely nostalgic. Instead of pulling and jerking on the viewers� emotions, the film sort of guides and draws it out of you. We�ll begin to think as far back as our first puppy love when we first felt a slight �tingle� inside, but didn�t quite know what it was.
Then the magic ends. Junsei and Aoi move on with their lives. Junsei moves away to Italy where his love for historical arts can flourish. Aoi is now dating a rich business man named Michael, played by the ever-so �talked� about Michael Wong. Aoi�s relationship with Michael is beautiful and believable . . . on the surface. Aoi, herself, is torn between trying to keep a perfectly good relationship with Michael or following what her heart is telling her. Passion is a word that touches on our feelings and emotions. We are driven by it and we desire because of it. Aoi is clearly smothering her passion and love for Junsei by pushing her mind to believe she is in love with Michael. Of course for a relationship to work, the love has to go both ways and Michael feels like there�s a humongous gap between them despite their closeness.
It seems to me like romantic dramas from Asia have another insight to them. The characters are superficially beautiful, but the depth and meaning that they carry are uncanny. Calmi Cuori is exactly this. At first sight, the film is so beautiful and exquisite that the viewers become awe struck. However, the film�s sublime imagery is nothing without its passion driven characters. Both Takenouchi and Chen stay within context of their characters, but because the characters are brimming with residual emotions, there are times when they break out of the calmness of the character and display their passion filled interior. Calmi Cuori Appassionati�s success is because of its beautiful locations and its surprising cast of characters.
A casual viewing of this film is something you cannot do. You have to sit down with someone, preferably your significant other, and see through the beauty of this film. Uncover what lies deep beneath the calm and placid story and you will love what you find . . . a gem of a movie. Calmi Cuori Appassionati is a film that will leave you wanting more . . . in your relationship.
Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida [冷静と情熱のあいだ] (Kozo 2002 [Rating: 6/10] Like frequent co-star Takeshi Kaneshiro, Kelly Chen has long been popular in Japan. She has appeared in the Kyoko Fukada TV drama Don't be a Crybaby, and has gained popularity thanks to numerous print ads as well as her obvious physical charms. Now she co-stars with Japanese heartthrob Yutaka Takenouchi in Calmi Cuori Appassionati, a romantic drama set in Japan and Italy.
Takenouchi is Akagi, a budding painter who restores old paintings for a respected company in Florence, Italy. He has a circle of friends and a current girlfriend, but his heart belongs to someone else: Aoi (Kelly Chen), who he first met in 1991, though they broke it off midway through the nineties. Aoi now works in Milan and has a rich Chinese boyfriend named Michael (Michael Wong). She's claims she's happy now, but Michael isn't so sure.
One thing that's certain is that Akagi isn't happy; his job goes on the rocks and he's still madly in love with Aoi. Through numerous flashbacks and some voiceover, we learn how the doomed couple first met in college and how their love deepened through passing years and personal difficulties. We also learn about the forces that tore them apart, and also the serendipity that's brought them in touch with each other again. What rings in Akagi's mind is a promise they made one passionate night in 1991. They swore to meet again in Italy on Aoi's thirtieth birthday. The question arises: will the promise be kept and these two insanely attractive people find love?
Also, they have to find personal fulfillment and appropriate conclusions to whatever side issues plague their lives. Akagi has issues with his former place of employ, where he was framed for the destruction of a valuable painting. Aoi must come to terms with her feelings towards Michael, and whether she actually loves him or not.
These issues are meant to shed greater light onto the characters - to actually make us care about them. However, just because something is supposed to be touching doesn't mean it always is. Calmi Cuori Appassionati lacks - of all things - passion. It's so precise and beautiful in its construction and presentation that it comes across as a perfect flower vase - beautiful but untouchable. Everything is presented in such a way to make us care, but just because the filmmakers hit all the marks doesn't mean it's actually going to work. If anything, the precision with which the film is told renders it practically sterile.
Still, the movie was a hit with people and it's understandable as to why. It's hard to not feel for a film that tugs so relentlessly at the heartstrings. And the actors are amazingly pretty. Yutaka Takenouchi and Kelly Chen are terrific eye candy and both handle their roles well. Takenouchi gets the nod for acting thanks to his rugged presence and convincing handle of the Italian language. Chen is incredibly beautiful, but that works against her here. She's never been one to display internal emotion. Instead, she comes across with an almost icy exterior that, while fitting for the character, only adds to the film's emotional distance. It'd be great if we could see into Aoi without a voiceover or flashback to help us, but we never really get the chance.
Ultimately, it's the pull of fate that has the most effect on the lovers, but the film never truly reaches a huge Officer and a Gentleman-style payoff. I suppose that restraint is keeping with the "calm" indicated in the film's title. The two lovers are always between surrendering to their feelings and trying to be pragmatic, and that constant tug-of-war makes their love last for ten movie years, two actual hours, and at least four protracted endings. In the end, I did want them to get together, but mostly because that would mean the movie was over. (Kozo 2002)
Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida [冷静と情熱のあいだ] Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida [Rating: 6/10] "Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida (Between Calmness and Passion)" was theatrically released in November, 2001. Writers Kaori Eguni and Hitonari Tsuji each wrote a novel based on the same story from two different viewpoints: that of a woman and a man. Eguni write "Rosso" from a female viewpoint, and Tsuji wrote "Blu" from a male viewpoint. The movies were based on these best-selling books each, and follow the story of romantic entanglement set in Tokyo, Milan and Florence. Some of the photography shot in these cities are breathtakingly beautiful. Unlike the "Blu" DVD, this one is a single-DVD release with an bonus for initial press copies.
Kelly Chen's Japanese Cinema debut is an incredibly well-produced romantic drama that's glossier than anything she's done in Hong Kong. She and Yutaka Takenouchi make an attractive pair, and the pathos is inherently compelling. However, the film is so superficially beautiful that it borders on sterility.
Like frequent co-star Takeshi Kaneshiro, Kelly Chen has long been popular in Japan. She has appeared in the Kyoko Fukada TV drama Don't be a Crybaby, and has gained popularity thanks to numerous print ads as well as her obvious physical charms. Now she co-stars with Japanese heartthrob Yutaka Takenouchi in Calmi Cuori Appassionati, a romantic drama set in Japan and Italy.
Takenouchi is Akagi, a budding painter who restores old paintings for a respected company in Florence, Italy. He has a circle of friends and a current girlfriend, but his heart belongs to someone else: Aoi (Kelly Chen), who he first met in 1991, though they broke it off midway through the nineties. Aoi now works in Milan and has a rich Chinese boyfriend named Michael (Michael Wong). She's claims she's happy now, but Michael isn't so sure.
One thing that's certain is that Akagi isn't happy; his job goes on the rocks and he's still madly in love with Aoi. Through numerous flashbacks and some voiceover, we learn how the doomed couple first met in college and how their love deepened through passing years and personal difficulties. We also learn about the forces that tore them apart, and also the serendipity that's brought them in touch with each other again. What rings in Akagi's mind is a promise they made one passionate night in 1991. They swore to meet again in Italy on Aoi's thirtieth birthday. The question arises: will the promise be kept and these two insanely attractive people find love?
Also, they have to find personal fulfillment and appropriate conclusions to whatever side issues plague their lives. Akagi has issues with his former place of employ, where he was framed for the destruction of a valuable painting. Aoi must come to terms with her feelings towards Michael, and whether she actually loves him or not.
These issues are meant to shed greater light onto the characters - to actually make us care about them. However, just because something is supposed to be touching doesn't mean it always is. Calmi Cuori Appassionati lacks - of all things - passion. It's so precise and beautiful in its construction and presentation that it comes across as a perfect flower vase - beautiful but untouchable. Everything is presented in such a way to make us care, but just because the filmmakers hit all the marks doesn't mean it's actually going to work. If anything, the precision with which the film is told renders it practically sterile.
Still, the movie was a hit with people and it's understandable as to why. It's hard to not feel for a film that tugs so relentlessly at the heartstrings. And the actors are amazingly pretty. Yutaka Takenouchi and Kelly Chen are terrific eye candy and both handle their roles well. Takenouchi gets the nod for acting thanks to his rugged presence and convincing handle of the Italian language. Chen is incredibly beautiful, but that works against her here. She's never been one to display internal emotion. Instead, she comes across with an almost icy exterior that, while fitting for the character, only adds to the film's emotional distance. It'd be great if we could see into Aoi without a voiceover or flashback to help us, but we never really get the chance.
Ultimately, it's the pull of fate that has the most effect on the lovers, but the film never truly reaches a huge Officer and a Gentleman-style payoff. I suppose that restraint is keeping with the "calm" indicated in the film's title. The two lovers are always between surrendering to their feelings and trying to be pragmatic, and that constant tug-of-war makes their love last for ten movie years, two actual hours, and at least four protracted endings. In the end, I did want them to get together, but mostly because that would mean the movie was over.
Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida [冷静と情熱のあいだ] Calmi Cuori Appassionati [Rating: 6/10] Calmi Cuori Appassionati tells of the history of the love between Junsei (Yutaka Takenouchi), an art restorer working in Florence, and the love of his life, Aoi (Kelly Chen). Ten years back they break up in Japan and lead new and separate lives in Italy. But whilst Aoi has found a new beau, Junsei fails to fall out of love with her. Fleeting near-misses and real encounters pass by, as they discover what was really behind their relationship to start with and make their own decisions in the end.
Calmi is a beautifully set film, with the magical backdrop of Florence as its central setting. With additional scenes set in Milan and Japan, it really did feel an international movie.
However, the film lacked the innovation we come to expect from an independent film. Sure there were a few fine moments of direction and cinematography, especially many of the aerial and distance shots, but there was nothing that really took your breath away.
The storyline itself was much the same. Enough to keep you interested, well written and nicely timed flashbacks, but nothing that really surprised you. In a way you might have thought the story was a bit magical in that you couldn't expect it to surprise you. The characters also lacked a little depth, not really allowing you to explore them. The film really didn't make you think too deeply at all.
One of the most annoying aspects about Calmi is the soundtrack. Unfortunately, I felt the choice of using several tracks from Enya's Paint The Sky With Stars was overdone and was often used in parts of the film where the music just didn't fit. There are pluses, however, where Enya wasn't used and the classical pieces did fit in well.
I could go on summarising all the faults of the movie, but I feel that it would be over-critical since I'm would be setting extremely high standards. Indeed, I would like to stress that I did enjoy this film and it did engage some of my own emotions. There were some scenes where the acting was very good. I was impressed by the acting ability of Takenouchi, having not seen before, and also that of Chen.
However, I am disappointed that the film really didn't try enough to escape the boundaries that we associate with mainstream pictures and show us something more stunning to the eye. But I do offer it applause because ultimately it is a fine movie.
Amazingly beautiful, 5 July 2006
Author: (dchang from United States
This movie was one of the most popular movies in Japan and Korea when it was released, and it is easy to see why. Not only are the cinematics gorgeous, the central love story is also exquisite -- although extremely painful -- in a very sad regretful kind of way.
The characters are very believable, and their all too obvious flaws, as well as their unhappy personal lives, make the movie ring true unlike many happy-go-lucky Hollywood movies. The fact that the story is told in reverse, with the two lovers broken apart and living with new lovers but slowly realizing that their lost loves are their true loves, only heightens the tragedy and the drama.
Two quibbles: the movie starts very slowly and the English voice acting is pretty terrible. However, this is somewhat of a positive because it centers the viewer on the interaction between the Japanese characters, making it feel as if they are the central characters.
The Unbelievable Eternal Love, 11 October 2003
Author: Darcy, Lee from Gumi,South Korea
If you really want to feel the true and eternal love. I cordially recommend this movie. And you can enjoy the beautiful views of 3 cities of Italy,France and Japan. This movie was originated from the novel which has two books written by two authors(one book written by a male writer and the other one written by a female writer) As popular as the novel, this movie was so popular in Japan and recently in Korea. As I said, this movie is really perfect for the people who love Romance genre. And I would like to say that this movie is the top of the Romance genre movies.(But I can't be sure that the people from non-Asian can understand.You know, the ways of thinking of Asian and non-Asian are a little bit different each other)
There'll be no regret after you watch it, but a wet handkerchief.
Author: jooby from NJ
I bought the Japanese DVD version of this DVD after hearing all the hype about the film in Japan. Well, I was a bit disappointed with the story line. The cinematography is awesome with some of the best shots of Florence that I've ever seen on screen. Leading actor and actresses are quite attractive. And their acting is, in my opinion, slightly better than those seen in soap operas. One terrible acting scene I would like to pick on is the scene where Akagi and Aoi kiss after long separation. It is by far the most fake-looking and artificial kiss scenes I've ever seen. I won't elaborate further to avoid revealing the plot. Also, the English lines delivered by Aoi's boy friend sound really like reading out loud in monotone voice. Terrible acting there. ***Warning***SPOILERS***Also, in my opinion, the movie should have ended when they meet at the top of Duomo and not have to drag on to show more of the same predictable conclusion. ***Warning***SPOILERS*** I would, however, still recommend this film on the cinematography and to the fans of Kelly Chen and Yutaka Takenouchi. They do look good (physically that is, not the acting in particular) in the movie.
About the DVD: region 2 DVD (rosso is the one I have) comes in anamorphic wide screen and the transfer is flawless, along with the digital sound tracks.
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Reisei to Jounetsu no Aida [冷静と情熱のあいだ]
