Eureka

Director Shinji Aoyama has called this extraordinary film "a prayer for modern man, who is searching for the courage to go on living". Inspired by John Ford's The Searchers, the story follows coach driver Koji Yakusho and siblings Aoi and Masaru Miyazaki, who are the only survivors of a tragic bus hijacking. Two years after the incident, Yakusho seeks out the traumatised teenagers and suggests a cross-country journey to salve their damaged souls. Nearly four hours in length, Aoyama's meditation on redemption allows for a measured discussion of memory, regret and the gradual erosion of cultural identity, while the decision to print Masaki Tamura's CinemaScope imagery in monochrome enhances the action's ethereal aura. Although a serial killer subplot intrudes upon the serenity of the odyssey, the overall atmosphere of the piece remains a deeply affecting experience.