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Movies / On DVD / Canary
Canary

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Canary (2008)

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Reviews Counted:6

Fresh:4

Rotten:2

Average Rating:5.4/10

Runtime: 2 hrs 12 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Synopsis: Based on the true events of the deadly gas attacks perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult on the Tokyo subway system, Canary tells the moving story of two children, each abandoned by... Based on the true events of the deadly gas attacks perpetrated by members of the Aum Shinrikyo cult on the Tokyo subway system, Canary tells the moving story of two children, each abandoned by their families, who come together in the wake of the scarring event.

Twelve-year-old Koichi has grown up within the confines of a religious cult whose violently instilled dogma has all but destroyed his sense of identity. After a murderous attack, the cult disbands and Koichi finds himself abandoned by his mother and forcibly separated from his sister. To reunite his broken family, Koichi breaks out of the child welfare system and sets off to Tokyo. While on the run, he meets Yuki, a girl desperate to flee from her abusive father.

Koichi and Yuki travel together in search of his sister, facing the inevitable troubles of children making their way in the world without the guidance or protection of adults. The separate scars of their pasts cause friction between the two, but their struggles develop a familial bond that allows them to confront both their pasts and the future ahead.

Beautiful and poignant, Akihiko Shiota's film illustrates the resiliency of forgotten youth in forging their own destiny from a tragic past.--© Official Site [More]

Starring: Hoshi Ishida, Mitsuki Tanimura, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Miyako Koda

Starring: Hoshi Ishida, Mitsuki Tanimura, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Miyako Koda

Director: Akihiko Shiota

Director: Akihiko Shiota
Screenwriter: Akihiko Shiota
Producer: Kazumi Kawashiro
Composer: Yoshihide Otomo
Studio: ImaginAsian

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Canary

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1 - 7 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
07/30/08
Ronnie Scheib
Ronnie Scheib
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The Orient's relatively-eloquent answer to Eminem's 8-Mile and 50-Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', replete with gangsta' rap on the soundtrack.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
07/25/08
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

If the writer-director, Akihiko Shiota, sometimes strains too hard for mythic import, his patience is a gift. As Yuki watches a blind woman fashion an origami bird, the characters' connection to a simpler, collective past is evident in every perfect fold.

comment Comment
07/25/08
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Gripping "road movie" featuring two remarkably well-developed 12 year old characters played consummately by two gifted child actors. Set against backdrop of infamous Tokyo subway sarin massacre cult.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
07/25/08
Louis Proyect
Louis Proyect
rec.arts.movies.reviews

It lacks the punch of Shiota’s previous explorations of traumatized teen spirits, but the film still leaves bruises in all the right places.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
07/24/08
David Fear
David Fear
Time Out New York

In Canary, the audience is encouraged to sit back and allow sleepily serene scenes of quiet isolation to limit their opinions to tranquil tsk-tsks.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
07/23/08
Simon Abrams
Simon Abrams
New York Press

I was counting off the minutes long before a silly "saved from the blessings of civilization" non-ending.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
07/23/08
Nick Pinkerton
Nick Pinkerton
Village Voice
 
 
1 - 7 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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July 25, 2008: Terrorism as pre-teen bonding-op in Japanese reclaiming of innocence flick. Opens in new window
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