blrnani Basically, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. Although the focus is mainly on the rather disturbed (and I won't say harmless, because in typical American male fashion he readily resorts to violence as a way to resolve his problems) Enoch, the story is driven by Annabel, a vivacious young girl with a sad secret. That they are both good for one another is undeniable, even for Annabel's protective (but not overly so) older sister. I wasn't sure how Hiroshi fitted into this until the end, and that realisation added much to the depth of the film. I won't say any more to avoid spoiling the journey for others.

tieman64 "Restless" finds Henry Hopper playing Enoch, a teenager who has recently lost his parents in an accident. Enoch thus finds himself caught deep in an existential rut. He visits funerals, dresses in dour clothes, is obsessed with death, resolves to give up on life, views everything as being intrinsically "meaningless" and routinely converses with an imaginary Japanese kamikaze pilot. Other morose totems litter the film: dangerous train lines, graveyards, corpses, hospitals, Halloween nights, ghosts, games of battleship, funeral parlours, diseases etc. The film is preoccupied with death.Things get contrived when Enoch meets Annabel, played by a young Mia Wasikowska. Annabel has cancer, is about to die, is fond of wings, birds, flight and Darwin, and is upbeat and grateful despite her imminent annihilation. She, of course, teachers Enoch to love himself, life and be eternally grateful for "whatever few moments he is granted". Both characters wear Euro-chic and look like they've stepped out of a 1960s Godard movie.The film is essentially a shameless rip-off of Hal Ashby's "Harold and Maude" - and the countless "oh my God my lover is dying of cancer" romantic weepies it inspired – only more formulaic, less smart and less touching. But it was directed by Gus Van Sant, a gentle soul, who manages to lend the film some kind of credibility. You sense that Van Sant understands these people, identifies with them, and you can feel him trying to skirt over the film's more contrived moments.Van Sant's career tends to alternate between sappy Hollywood dramas and micro-budget, minimalist pictures ("Elephant", "Last Days", "Paranoid Park"). "Restless" merges both approaches; a kind of sappy minimalism.7.5/10 – Van Sant did this stuff better with "Last Days".

The Backseat Director I don't know about you, but as great as Dennis Hopper was, I was never able to love him. He was so mean and frightening – all those horrid things he put poor Keanu and Sandra through on that bus, the sacrifices that Jack had to make to get him in 24 and that frankly frightful tongue in Super Mario Bros. But, finally, from his loins, comes something I can love – wee little Henry.He seems to be carved from the finest tree in the Gus Van Sant forest of indie-actors, whilst having a face perfect enough for the inevitable actor-cum-model turn for the odd glossy magazine.Death, cancer and all that stuff is hard enough to deal with when you're an adult, but when you're abandoned by your parents to make sense of this world and all its harshness, there's really only one place to go and that's off the rails. Finding yet more death in his imaginary friend and his new girlfriend, young Enoch is just a little bit dark and kooky.And talking of his girlfriend, is there nothing that Mia Wasikowska isn't in these days. Six months ago it was Amy Ryan who seemed to be in every movie in the cinema, film on iTunes and series on TV; but for the past couple of months Mia has been everywhere. I just caught, and fell in love with, her in In Treatment; and here, well she continued to win me over.I love a film about grief – and this one is beautiful, cute, and has that little Romeo and Juliet vibe. And a little note to the film's stylist – loving your work.

Masako-2 This underrated film was released just before Christmas in Tokyo. As a long time fun of the director, I enjoyed very much this beautiful film. It appears to be an ordinary boy-meets-girl story with somewhat quirky atmosphere, but inside I found the film is filled with homage to the Nouvellevague cinema. Among them, I remember the film "Cleo de 5 a 7" by Agnes Varda (1962), which includes discussions of mortality, despair and the meaning of life. I also felt the airs of Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut. If you love the French films in 60s, I believe you will enjoy and appreciate it more. The line by Hiroshi (the Ghost) summarizes the theme of this film. "We have so little time to say any of the things we mean. We have so little time for any of it."