Customer Reviews

Last Quarter

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Last Quarter stars Hyde (japanese rock star) and Chiaki Kuriyama best known in the states for her role as Gogo in Kill Bill.

It is a beautifully filmed story. This is not an action movie. Everyone is cast very well. Also, Last Quarter is based of a manga of the same name.

The story is focused around a girl who is unsatisfied with her life. She is drawn to a mansion and finds a musician there called Adam. He is very otherworldly. Because of her discontent she doesn't want to leave and soon is unable to. After she is in an accident, her (frequently) ex-boyfriend and two other young people try to help her find her way home. Themes of rebirth and karma are expressed through her relationship with Adam.

This is a movie to watch if you are in the mood for some tears.

I was attracted to Last Quarter for its resemblance, on the DVD cover, to quality J-Horror movies. It turned out, however, to be a tear-jerking, stunningly beautiful supernatural love story, with a haunting soundtrack. The visuals ranged from ordinary street scenes in metropolitan Japan to computer graphic altered state sequences in such a way that it became obvious that the film was making a comment on the emotional condition of contemporary Japanese youth. It is full of hope and light. The essence of this vision is unforgettably expressed in the smiles and tears of Chiaki Kuriyama. She plays a 19-year-old girl who, because of devastating emotional shocks in her own life, is vulnerable to exploitation by a couple of dead lovers attempting to reincarnate. Several highly emotional scenes in the film will, I believe, go down as classic scenes in cinema. Chiaki carries everything off with absolute sensitivity. I think she will soon establish a reputation as the most unique romantic lead since Ingrid Bergman. I suppose, however, that because her facial structure allows her to display a rather unprepossessing frown, as in Kill Bill and on the cover of i-D Magazine, she is also being thought of as a monstrously tough chick. This is not her. If you want to see the real Chiaki, watch Last Quarter.

Admittedly, the only reason I wanted to see this movie in the beginning is because of Hyde since I'm a huge fan of his. But then I read the manga it's based off of (Kagen no Tsuki) and I was completely hooked on the story. It was the first manga I've read that made me cry. And while there are a lot of differences between the manga and the movie (like characters being removed, certain events happening sooner and changing Adam from a blonde haired, blue eyed British rock star to a half Japanese half British rock star) but it still was the same basic story and it was still just as good. The movie was just as beautifully told as the manga, and the actors were all really good. Hyde wasn't in it as much as I would have liked, but after reading the manga, I expected this. Still, it's now one of my favorite movies. I'm not going to write what it's about, because well, there are already reviews that do that, but if you love a tragic love story, this is a must see. I would also recommend reading the manga if you can, because it's more in depth.

I'm not sure how a reviewer figures this is anything like Harry Potter. I suppose both are fantasy.

The souls of two young women separated by 19 years and exact phases of the moon, plus some personal items, become locked together in an abandoned mansion, one after death, one after an accident that knocks her into a coma.

A younger schoolgirl finds this apparition, and must resolve the mystery of who she is and where she came from. She and a classmate must find the lover of the first woman, argue with and convince the boyfriend of the second (Mizuni), and work with this ghost that only one of them can see, who doesn't recall her life on Earth and doesn't believe it existed. The ending is a fight of life vs afterlife, with a very real death awaiting the real world Mizuni.

My only two criticisms are that the two decade old "indie" band sounds very contemporary pop, and the denouement is a little long. But the acting is first rate, the camera work striking and gorgeous and the plot well-developed, believable and not overplayed. I caught it at a fair by accident, and my daughter and I sat watching until 1 am. Very good, very classy, and a wonderful tragedy with a warm resolution.

This is a good movie. If you only want to see Hyde then you will be upset. He is not in the movie to much but when he is he is great. The story mainly flows two high school students and the lead girl's boyfriend as they try to help her solve a mystery. I don't want to give to much away but if you are into ghost stories and the super natural then this is a movie for you.

The fact that L'arc~en~ciel's Hyde is in it made it all the more desirable. Lots of mystery, being reborn and the soundtrack will have you watching it again and again.

I had watched this movie without subtitles few years ago and this time with the translation I finally understood some parts of it. Absolutely good movie.

Someone on Youtube recommended this movie to me after seeing a comment I left on Moon Child. These days I'm watching & listening to more Japanese pop culture than American (because let's face it, America's pop culture has pretty much been done & redone) & when I mentioned that, they sent me the link to Last Quarter. I watched it & right around the end of the movie, I was crying my eyes out. I've seen it so many times now, I hardly even need the subtitles anymore! This movie is great for watching with the family, friends, or your significant other.

This movie is very beautiful, a bit bittersweet, but still, very beautiful. I fully recommend it. I specially recommend it for those who are fans of either Ai Yazawa, or Hyde.

I bought this movie because I am a fan of Hyde, but it is definitely worth watching even if you're not a Hyde fan. Last Quarter is a tragic supernatual love story about lost love, life, death, and rebirth. The cinematography and music are high-quality and beautiful. The acting is even better than most other Japanese movies I've seen. The actors fit the characters very well. I was close to crying at some points of the movie, and the characters are realistic enough that I could relate to them well. I wasn't bored for even a moment while watching Last Quarter. It is a movie I would watch again and again, and I recommend it to anyone who who is interested in it.