Metro ni notte (2006) watch online HD

This is quite an unusual and stimulating portrayal of family relationships, using the time travel technique to add an even more complex perspective on the story.

My feeling about this film is that it is probably more suited to those who enjoy unusual film direction and particularly that of modern Japanese cinema. This kind of film can best be enjoyed if one leaves behind all preconceived notions of how stories should be presented through the medium of film, and also how other cultures may choose to do this. If the film is approached with such an open mind, it does provide a very powerful cinematic experience.

I found this movie to be intriguing enough to hang on for the ride. The production design alone--rendering perfectly various historical periods in Tokyo--was worth my time.

If you like your stories tied up neatly at the end, it's probably not the movie for you. Likewise, if you can't handle non-linear time structures, give this one a miss. However, if you like riddles that can't be solved, you will probably enjoy it. In that regard, it is similar to "(The Mystery of) Rampo" (1994) and "Jacob's Ladder." However, I don't think it was as honest as those films, because forgiveness seems too easily given. As difficult as the relationships are in this movie, and given the unsolvable riddle, I don't think it was necessary for the protagonist to forgive his antagonist as unequivocally as he does in this movie. That said, given the character through-lines the actors had to work with, everyone did a terrific job... perhaps with the exception of the stiff who was hired to portray a crooked U.S. occupation forces officer. How hard could it be to find an American to play an American, or at least someone with a credible imitation of an American accent? Thankfully, he's the only clunker and only in one scene, and maybe I'm being too hard on him because of his bad rendering of an American accent. Nothing else in his performance was terrible.

This film didn't win any Oscars, but we enjoyed it. The story was intriguing, there were some good visual effects and the acting was decent.

As mentioned in the other reviews, a time-travel tangled web of family and interpersonal relationships.

The movie will probably be more fun for people who have more personal experience with life in Tokyo, riding Tokyo subways, drinking in Tokyo, romance in Tokyo...being a history buff doesn't hurt either.

Viewers without that sort of personal relationship to the subject may find the movie less compelling.

Time Travel is always an interesting subject, as people are always fascinated by it, and the possibilities are endless. However, at the same time, the concept had been explored many, many times and a lot of films are made based on this concept, such as 12 Monkeys, The Butterfly Effect, The Jacket, 13 Going on 30, Big, the Time Machine, Back to the Future Trilogy, etc. Thus, one has to be careful when one decides to explore Time Travel. If executed incorrectly by either the director or the screenwriter or both, it can feel tiring, unoriginal and trivial, and the audience would not accept such a impossible idea. This film, sadly, falls into the latter category, where both the screenwriter and the director misused the idea, and as a result, it became a messy piece of trash.

The basic format is good, as a son estranged from his father, through some strange miracle, was able to travel back in time via the metro system, learn more about himself, his father and his family, become able to forgive his father, and in turn, become a better man. There is potential for it to be a heartwarming story that the audience will love and take something away from it. However, because of its execution and a couple of glaring mistakes, it became messy and the film jumped all over the place.

First of all, it was never explained why the main character was able to time travel. It seemed all of a sudden, he traveled back in time. He did not have a goal, and because of that, the film did not have a goal and became very unorganized.

Secondly, the time travel was very inconsistent. Sometimes it felt as the world he entered into knew of his existence, while other times the world did not see or even remember him. Thus, this inconsistency contributed to the messiness of the film.

The third and final problem happens in the subplot, as the woman the main character is having an affair with turns out to be his half-sister, and she kills herself when she grabs her pregnant mom, in a time travel experience, and plunges down a flight of stairs. Although an interesting concept, the revelation came a little too late for the audience to become relevant. Instead, it is seen to be a ruse to get the audience interested by the use of a taboo subject.

Furthermore, it is not clearly shown if she knew the truth or not. If it becomes clear that she knew, then it is understandable why she decides to kill herself. However, because of the ambiguity, the subplot seems irrelevant.

In the end, due to the poor script and even worst directing, a once promising film becomes a junk piece of work. It is not worth the time.

3/10