My Broken Mariko (2022)

"The only thing you can do for a person who is gone is to live"

I’m always hesitant to write reviews on films based on mangas or books because people who have read them are often able to fill in the gaps with their reading experience. Having not read the manga my review will be based solely on my reaction to the film.

Shiino works for a verbally abusive boss. He’s labeled “@sshole boss” on her phone. While eating lunch she is horrified to hear on the television that her best friend has died. She discovers Mariko has already been cremated and the ashes given to her father. With little thought she talks her way into his apartment and steals her friend’s ashes at knife point. After running barefoot through town and seemingly owning only one pair of shoes, Shiino decides it’s time to take a road trip to the beach with her friend. She digs out an old pair of dilapidated Doc Martens, fumigates them, and takes the first bus out of town with Mariko’s ashes in hand.

Through flashbacks we learn that Mariko and Shiino had been friends since childhood and also that Mariko’s father had been abusing her since then. Their friendship endured many of Mariko’s cries for help and ultimatums. On her journey to take Mariko’s ashes to the ocean, Shiino suffered set-back after set-back aided only by a man dressed like the Grim Reaper who appeared whenever she needed help. While ostensibly this was Shiino’s journey through agonizing grief at her friend leaving without saying good-bye, I was always distracted by Mariko’s ongoing abuse at the hands of the men in her life. Were there no child services called or available when she showed up to school bruised and broken from head to toe on a regular basis? Did Shiino repeatedly try to get her friend to see a therapist to deal with the traumas she’d suffered? Why didn’t they call the police when one of the men beat both of them and attempted to break into their apartment or when one of Mariko’s lovers broke her arm and robbed her? Was there ever a point when Shiino stopped enabling Mariko’s self-destructive behaviors and attempted to get her the help she desperately needed? Shiino had her own issues that could have used a professional helping hand as well.

Grief and its 1000 cuts by haunting memories filled My Broken Mariko. But it also left unanswered the most important question of how both women’s lives might have been changed if they’d stop accepting whatever abuse was heaped upon them and sought to gain some agency for their own lives.

3 August 2024

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heartbreaking, yet beautiful

This has to be one of the most underrated films of 2022.

The director, Tanada Yuki, did a fantastic job portraying the ups and downs of life through gorgeous scenery and profound dialogue. At times, the pacing felt a bit slow, and some of the scenes seemed to drag slightly, but it did an effective job of creating an emotional experience for the viewer. This film touches on issues of mental illness, various forms of familial and relationship abuse, and toxic work culture. Certain scenes contained heart-wrenching and quite graphic depictions of self-harm and abuse, so be forewarned. The slower paced scenes ultimately allowed the viewer to reflect on the serious issues presented in this film. This movie is relatively short, and the plot isn't that complicated, but everything about it is impactful.

What makes this film amazing is the acting. Nagano Mei truly become the character of Shiino Tomoyo. I could feel her anguish, frustration, and helplessness through the screen. Her character felt like an anchor for the viewer to hold onto. Her reactions felt very real, in the face of tremendous heartbreak and anger. All the characters had fantastic line delivery, but Nagano definitely owned this movie.

Even though this film is incredibly sad, there are elements of humor sprinkled throughout. It felt very real, as life is filled with beauty, tragedy, and comedy. I can't emphasize enough how gorgeous this film is. It's definitely an emotional roller coaster, so prepare tissues!

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might be triggering...

My Broken Mariko is a visually stunning Japanese film that explores complex themes like mental health, grief, and redemption. The story follows Tomoyo as she travels across Japan to deliver the ashes of her best friend, Mariko, amidst the struggles of her painful past.

Through the visually striking imagery and outstanding performances, the audience is transported into Tomoyo's emotionally-charged world.

The music is thoughtfully composed and helps to create a vivid atmosphere, heightening the emotional impact of each scene.

Overall, My Broken Mariko is a journey of self-discovery and redemption that serves as a reminder of the human capacity for resilience and the importance of accepting help from others. The main reason why I can't give it a higher rating is because it has a low rewatch value because of triggering themes.

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Great acting from Nagano Mei

This is probably a must-watch for Nagano Mei's fans, because she did brilliantly in this movie. She usually play that pretty, sweet, good-mannered type of character so I'm kinda surprised she could pull off Shiina's character well. I haven't read the manga but people said this movie is very close to the original manga. The story is good, the acting is great, supporting characters also did well....but one thing I should say (or warn, maybe), this movie could make you sleepy. If you're not a fan of slow paced, poetic lines kind of movie, you should probably know about this in advance.... I skipped some 'muted' scenes (no dialogue, just the actors or the scenery) because I was feeling drowsy watching it.

I understand though, maybe the cinematography in this movie was intended to be the exact same as the manga, as much as possible. But in my opinion they should have added some nice, sentimental music in the background maybe? To make it more...idk, dramatic? Because it's not a plain 2D pictures audience is watching, it's a movie adaptation so I guess some more music in the background would be nice! Especially for audiences who haven't read the manga and couldn't grasp the emotion delivered by the main character from the original piece like me.
I gave it 7.5 out of 10 because I personally do not like slow paced-type of movie. But other than that, it was pretty good.

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Pandora's Box

Mariko and Shiino are two peas on a pod, as both had though upbringing and was in a toxic environment. Due to this, they were able to empathize, support each other, and form a strong bond. Her whole journey to uphold their "promise" of seeing the sea, reminded me of Pandora's Box (also due to Mariko's ashes being on a box). Her whole journey were full of despair, and bad luck just like what Pandora unleashed upon opening the box. As Pandora's Box had "Hope" amidst the foul, pain and darkness, her journey's conclusion also gave her Hope that served as will to carry on living for her beloved. It made me realize that through out her journey, there was Hope beside her.

This story, despite being common, was able to make me feel heavy and it made me remember that the world is indeed cruel, unfair, yet fair. Through out the movie, it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. It ran just right even if it only was 90 mins, it wasn't too fast nor too slow. The speed made sense, specially taking into consideration that this only happened for maybe 3 or 4 days.

Nagano Mei really pulled me on the story, she was able to really show the longing, loneliness, and confusion she felt from Mariko's passing. Most of Mei's project that I watched had her as someone that is innocent, and soft spoken and to see her shouting and talking with a sharp mouth was new for me. The delivery of her dialogues and monologues were one of the things that kept me engaged on the story. She is able to evoke despair and longing for her dear friend. Nao also doesn't fall short on her acting, I was feeling concerned like Shiino the whole time. Her delivery on the "It's all my fault" lines was so great that it felt like I needed to tell her thay she wasn't at fault and also say what Shiino said that the world was at fault for her demise.

The inserts had a hopeful feeling on it an example would be when Shiino had the answer for her question, "Where should we go?". Hope was scattered through out the film, even thought it isn't really that noticable. The ending song had the calm vibe on it, just like how droplets of water drip sound after a heavy rain.

It is a heavy film that can also make people's heart ache, a great film that is good to rewatch also but if you don't want to feel that again you can skip rewatching this. For me, I will pass on rewatching this because this movie is something that you can only see and feel once. Like having a feeling of "wanting to watch it for the first time again".

Overall, this is a heavy drama that easily captures the feeling of losing a person that is important to you. The story was pretty straightforward. The acting was what made this film a great watch. A big props to the director, original author, actors, staff that was able to make a film like this.

To watch this, you should be mentally ready as topics in this movie may be a trigger.

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This thing about mourning

This one is interesting.

Just like the protagonist we are immediately thrown into the cold water. No lead up to death, no explanation just yet. This woman named Mariko is dead and we are taken on a journey of how her friend deals with it as well of what could have been the cause. And man, it's one terrible thing after another.

I find it really hard to say much about how the suicide topic was handled here since the film doesnt seem to actively make any certain statement. The suicide in fact isnt the main focus at all, even if you can interpret it as such, i think the main focus is on how to grief. Regardless how a friend died in the end loved ones are left behind and everyone deals with it differently, has to in fact. In this case I think its displayed beautiful the stages one goes through.

There is denial, texting Mariko, unable to believe its true. Then there is wanting to make good by her, put her to rest peacefully. And of course anger, one that I was waiting for during the runtime of the film and was really well expressed with the "But you had me!" That our protagonist shouts in her drunken state. And lastly of course acceptance. Those are all really complex emptions that I think the acttess did a just fine jon in portraying. At times i felt like there was a bit of depth missing in her portrayal that pulled me a bit out of the deep emotions. The scenes meant to be impactful still were impactful though. Whom I really have to praise thpugh are the child actresses. They genuinely made me believe their distress, shock and friendship. They did an amazing job!

While those stages of grief in this type of story seem rather typical, this movie does something interesting. In the end it is completely up to the audience what to make of it all. We are not being told how to feel about it, whom to judge how nor what the moral of the story is. Its all open for interpretation.

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