Birigyaru (2015) Online

Tender and touching, this movie is a real story (based) of following your dreams and of how a great teacher can help people to realize their true potential.

The main hero, Sayaka - thickly painted social butterfly at the start of the story, with no knowledge and no skills to speak of - with the help of 'cram school' teacher working overtime because of his belief in his students - is gradually transformed over the course of the movie into successful student, sure of herself and her abilities, who applies for the entry exams into one of the finest universities in Japan.

Great story and great cast -- frankly, I was quite skeptical when I started the movie, but all the performances were so believable, and the flow of the story is so finely woven that it completely won me over long before the movie was over.

This movie moves you on many different levels - girl's struggle with her own insecurities, her troubled relationship with her family, the teacher finding ingenious ways to help students who are not interested in learning, to start with - everything is told with so much skill and so much heart that you can not help being pulled in by the story.

Watch it! One of the external reviews called it "an entertaining time-waster". Well if it is, it is probably the most useful way to waste two hours of your time :)

There are some out there who believe that mainstream films can never be artistically great or entertaining. I am certainly not one of them - and this film definitely proves it.

True, it's not groundbreaking by any means. But is it interesting? Is it emotionally gripping? And most importantly, is it memorable? This is all three, and more.

Taking literally the best parts of what characterizes Japanese film - over the top acting, narrative exposition, classic tugs at the heart-strings moments and melodramatic long pauses - this film pulls great screen writing, direction and acting to produce what has to be the best two hours to come out of mainstream Japanese cinema in a very long time.

Good teacher and awesome school owner.

Even the idiot jock loving father came around.

As a student who is aiming the exams to university, I was encouraged by this a lot, I mean, really a lot!

Well, this movie does not have much rank here, I suppose it is because people living under Western education system or examination system cannot understand properly that pressure of university-entry exams in Asian countries like Japan.

In my opinion is a really excellent movie, the relationships between the characters are also touching such as family and friends...

So I rated 10

Believe in your efforts!

I love Japanese film and have seen all kinds of them. Yet discovering one more wonderful film like this made my day. Now this is one of my all time favourite. The reason is it is a very inspiring tale, based on the book of the same name, which was originally based on the real life event of the author. Despite it dealt with a serious issue, the story was narrated with lots of fun. You know, if you are telling a most important story that does not mean it has to be slow, dull and artistic presentation. The film looked like some kind of commercial film with an awesome background score, but at the end, it accomplished everything it wanted to tell its viewers quite smartly.

This is a couple of year old film that I somehow managed to check it out now. Only regret is that I'm watching it so late. No need to be confused that it is not an out and out chick flick. It should be watched by all, especially the students and their parents, together. A beautiful message regarding the importance of education. That's not it, it also focused on parenting issues, teaching methods and friends influence. Not everybody born with a gift to do good at education, but it can be developed with proper care and coaching. That's the film's notion which finely presented on the screen.

Sayaka was born in an average family. Her father was keen to make her elder brother a pro baseball player since his childhood. So her mother took care of her and her little sister's childhood. Being frequently changing school, she never made friends, but finally when she did, her education doomed. Now on the edge of finishing school and entering college, she has not learned anything, just to pass the entrance exam. From her teacher to her father, very sure that she has no future. That's what she has to prove them wrong. With her mother's everlasting back, she takes up the biggest task of her life which is going to impact her life forever.

-xX] If you call a student a loser, they believe it. They lose confidence. [Xx-

The film had lots of inspiring lines. I felt this was one of those films must be shown in the schools. Apart from the education, the parenting failure was another highlight of the film. It was not like the child was completely abandoned. It was the split parenting. It happens when parents failed to unitedly treat equally all their children. One of the reasons could be the field of interest they share with them. Or maybe forcing on them with their failed dream. A kid's family influences his/her beahaviour out in the society, as well as society's in the house. These two to balance, one must have good parents and teachers. And not to ignore the friends.

The music was so good. I think OST is worth a buy. It helped the film to keep the pace in check. Apart from colourful and fun narration, it also gets us with sentiments. Maybe that part seems too intentional, but as for the Japanese standard/culture that I've learnt through watching films, it was natural. The shocking part was the domestic violence which is rare in Japanese films, particularly among those I have seen. The education system varies in different part of the world, but the effort, the hard work are same. No pain, no gain is the motto. You can't just attempt and win. The path always filled with ups and downs. The one who faces them with the right attitude earns right result.

The basic platform was so common, even though the overall film was well told. From the writing to direction and music, a one. All the cast was excellent too. The runtime was just below the two hour mark, but a story like this, nothing bothers. To achieve cinematic result, the story kind of lost the realistic touch, but we must not forget that as I said it was based on the real which simply adjusted to two hour film. The young lead actress won the Japanese Academy Awards. For such an important message film, this is an under-noticed film. I'm not excited just because being a Japanophile. Definitely a must see film and recommend it to all!

9.5/10

Viewed at CineMatsuri 2016. Director Nobuhiro Doi trodes the well-worn path of the home drama genre by delivering a standard family sitcom complete with role stereotypes, caricatures, and silliness masquerading as drama/comedy. This feel-good, sophomoric, movie fantasy would seem more appropriate for domestic TV viewers than movie theater audiences. The Director ensures that there will be no surprises (except maybe one) by aggressively telegraphing future events. The possible exception is the sudden and radical change in hair styles! Lead actress Kasumi Arimura never completely leaves her juvenile "Japanese cuteness" baggage behind as she progresses (at warp speed!) from bottom of the class in public secondary school to acceptance by a prestigious private university via a year (or so) of private, cram-school coaching. Acting by Atsushi Itô playing the cram school teacher/psychologist/philosopher/hand-holder/parent/would be lover/... is hard to swallow almost from the start and even more so as his character morphs into a caricature. Actress Yoh Yoshida takes on the typical role of a career-frustrated and long-suffering mother, but does so with aplomb; she consistently delivers the best (and most believable) acting in the film. All that being said (and at the risk of speculative over analysis), there is, perhaps, another angle to be considered: soft core propaganda with Doi's channeling of Mary Poppins (and her use of sugar to camouflages the bitter taste of medicine). The Director may be employing a cleaver multi-layered pop entertainment wrapper to disguise his lectures on pressing societal issues. Targeted multi-generational audiences have seen programs of this genre before (they seem to be a staple of contemporary Japanese TV) which only adds to the effectiveness of the sugar coating. First up, of course, is the theme of the film which is an unrelenting indictment of the Japanese public school system with its focus on mass rote learning (with zero consideration given to individual student needs) and it's failure to prepare students to think for themselves as they become adults. Replacing public schools with privately chartered ones is the unmistakable message (sound familiar?). Then there is the negative impact of traditional child rearing where parents force children into a career path that the adults were denied or unable to succeed in. Student bullying or group-enforced conformity to the lowest educational level of achievement is also covered. (And there could be a few more packed in there.) The film is way too long (by half) and boringly repetitious. The screen play (and direction) look suspiciously like they may have been puffed up to increase the film's duration. Cinematography (semi-wide screen, color), lighting, scene continuity, and film score are okay. Subtitles often provide less than accurate (or complete) translations of line readings, and, essentially, can present a parallel story to the one in the movie! Many signs are not translated. Fun to watch, but only with a ton of popcorn! WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

A movie that the title (and description for that matter) doesn't do it justice. Truthfully, they both make it sound like a comedy that would quickly get boring. But, it is actually quite an enjoyable film, with the leading lady rocking it with her performance. The movie had a light feeling, but explored the family dynamics very effectively, giving it a little depth. The fact that the film makers didn't focus, or added, a romantic element into it, to overshadow the whole main story, helped a lot to turn the film into a more unique movie than the rest manga like movies. However, the romance "danger" was there, with an other outcast dropped there, dangerously approaching the girl. But the film just kept focused on the main plot, having the girl outsmart herself and aim for the miracle. So, 8 out of 10.

Have you ever wanted something so bad you gave everything you have to accomplish it? That is what Flying Colors is all about, perseverance, dedication, strength and will power, all to accomplish your goals. I enjoy the concept, and this movie was by no means poorly done, but I think they could have done a lot more within the frame of an almost 2 hour movie, I think a run time of 1 hour and 30 minutes would have helped this movie out. Essentially this movie ends up being an hour or so of just watching the main character study, where we barely get to even learn anything along with her, we just watch her look at some text books intently. I also had a problem with the teacher as a character. I felt they didnt do much with his character, which does not make sense. He is supposed to be this magical being, almost, that convinces these troubled youths to change their ways and try to learn and do better in academics. But as a character, he sure is boring, not charming, and just completely empty. We didn't know much about him, and I didn't care enough to know more by the end, which is a shame, because they push the dynamic between the main character and the teacher, all throughout the movie, and yet they have no chemistry as student and teacher, and thats because his character is flat and the interactions are nothing special. So the idea that he's supposed to be able to convince these people, who no one else has been able to change for 14 years or more, in like one meeting... it just makes the relationship between everyone seem so fake, because of the basis of how it starts off. I think the story between the main character and her family is the most interesting in all of the movie, and that is not given enough screen time at all. The ending is nice, definitely sweet, which I will give this movie credit for also, it was uplifting, to see someone working so hard for what they want, and prove everyone wrong. But because the character work was not amazing, and development was poorly spaced out through the movie (she tries to change almost immediately and when she decides to stop trying to do well, it only lasts for a few minutes, so there was not enough time to actually believe she was giving up, the drama ended there). If you are interested in a simple, slightly uplifting and motivating movie, with not complex characters and have almost 2 hours to burn, then I'd say go for it, but for me, it was just forgettable