60
Hou fans will find what they're looking for; others will wonder when the action starts.
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What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
70
The New York Times by Dana Stevens
Café Lumière stands in relation to "Tokyo Story" as a faint, diminished echo. It is nonetheless a fascinating curiosity, a chance to witness one major filmmaker paying tribute to another in the form of a rigorously minor film.
100
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Hou's sensitivity plus Ozu's inspiration equals sublimity of sight and sound.
80
Exquisitely understated.
100
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
Hou's best film since "The Puppetmaster" (1993). It's also his most minimalist effort to date, slow to reveal its depths and beauties, and it marks a rejuvenation of his art.
70
The film is an original work by a filmmaker who throughout his career has absorbed the best of what Ozu had to teach, and as such it stands as beautiful tribute from one master to another.
88
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
It's a film objet d'art to contemplate and treasure.
67
Concerns feelings that can't be expressed, relationships that can't flower, and connections that are impossible to bridge.