Customer Reviews

Rail of the Star [VHS]

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

 

 

"Rail of the Star" is based on the true story of a Japanese family caught behind Communist lines in Korea at the end of WWII, as told by their young daughter. The animation is first-rate and the writing is superb; if made in the US, this TV Tokyo production would have nailed down an Emmy, or had a solid shot at an Oscar.

Parents: please note that, although there are no actual combat scenes, this is a movie about war, and very bad things happen to some of the charcters. Young kids may need you to watch it with them, and preschoolers probably shouldn't see it at all.

This film is especially recommended for schools and libraries.

Lovingly crafted true story of young girl's odyssey from post World War II Korea to Japan. She learns many painful lessons about the real world she inhabits. Beautiful score and cinematography carry this deliberately paced film as it tells its poignant and heartfelt story.

While the story is told by a young girl, it is all about Japanese people in general who were in Korea during the war. It is a very heart breaking story, but I just didn't feel it was told in a way that would cause it to be as emotionally distrubing as Grave of the Fireflies was. I in part blame this on the voice acting, as I didn't feel it was all that inspired. No doubt it carried much better in Japanese. Plus English dialogue can make the story confusing at points such as when the dad tells Chiko to "not speak Japanese." I think when Chiko meets the Korean boy there was originally a language barrier between them, but here they both speak English, making what could be an important scene into nothing special.