The Hollywood Reporter by Clarence Tsui
Radiance remains mired in underwritten relationships that end up less emotionally engaging than they appear.
✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Japan, France · 2017
1h 41m
Director Naomi Kawase
Starring Masatoshi Nagase, Ayame Misaki, Tatsuya Fuji, Kazuko Shirakawa
Genre Drama, Romance
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Misako, a young woman who works creating audio descriptions of movies for blind audiences, meets Nakamori, a photographer in the process of losing his sight. Nakamori initially sharply criticizes Misako's work, but the two find an unexpected connection with each other and begin a relationship that changes both their perspectives.
The Hollywood Reporter by Clarence Tsui
Radiance remains mired in underwritten relationships that end up less emotionally engaging than they appear.
The film’s thematic preoccupation with the power of images — as perceived through any of the senses — is a worthy and thoughtful one. Yet the execution lacks the visual and emotional rigor of Kawase’s most imposing films, instead swaddling viewers in buttery lighting and blunt, earnest platitudes.
Fans of Kawase will likely enjoy this delicate tale of people finding their way in the dark.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
A gentle, thoughtful and reflective movie.
Screen International by Wendy Ide
Typically delicate and as gentle as a balm, the film’s well-intentioned earnestness will not endear it to the more cynical end of the audience spectrum. But fans of Kawase’s small scale personal dramas will respond to the film’s wistful tone, as well as the plaintive prettiness of the photography.
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