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Eureka

EMAILPRINTShooting Gallery

Eureka reviews
78
10.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 2 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Shinji Aoyama

Directed by: Shinji Aoyama

Release Date:
Theatrical: May 4, 2001

Running Time: 217 minutes, Color / BW

Origin: Japan

Language(s): Japanese (with English subtitles)

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Koji Yakusho, Aoi Miyazaki, Masaru Miyazaki, and Yoichiro Saito

This beautifully composed black & white film explores a transcendent story of redemption. On what seemed to be a normal morning in southwest Japan, a crazed killer, apparently without motive, hijacks a city bus. In the ensuing carnage only three people survive - the driver, a schoolgirl and her older brother. (The Shooting Gallery)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Quiet, powerful, contemplative, respectful of stillness, Eureka is the first film this year in which there is obvious greatness.

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100

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

One of the year's best films, and certainly its most challenging so far: At more than three hours, watching it is less like consuming entertainment and more like living.

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100

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Aoyama's monochrome images are filled with a simple shadowy beauty and his scenes are rich in tender sensitivity and empathy.

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100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Understated acting and brilliant use of wide-screen black-and-white cinematography.

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90

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

To watch this film, in short, can be a transforming experience.

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90

Variety David Rooney

Builds steadily through a series of masterfully orchestrated modulations to a final act without shattering revelations or lofty dramatic peaks but with a quiet, formidable power.

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90

Village Voice Amy Taubin

A film of rare tenderness and mystery.

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88

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Wrenching performances and painstaking visual and thematic compositions.

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83

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Slow -- sometimes maddeningly, soporifically so.

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80

TV Guide Ken Fox

It's never dull -- beautifully acted and handsomely shot in sepia-toned Cinemascope.

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80

Chicago Reader Fred Camper

The compositions and camera movement are both precise and elegant.

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80

Film.com Peter Brunette

A completely different order of cinematic existence than any other film you're likely to see in the near or distant future.

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80

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Eureka demands active attention, but rewards it with emotional resonance, thematic complexity and a succession of images that take up permanent residence in our brains.

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80

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Eerily compelling.

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75

Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan

A work that demands patience, and it will easily exasperate some moviegoers.

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75

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Never feels inflated -- and it builds to an ending of unusual power.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Special note should be made of real-life sister and brother Aoi and Masaru Miyazaki, who give beautiful performances as the children.

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70

New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein

Eureka is, quite extraordinarily, never dull.

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70

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

His (Aoyama) existential odyssey is so attenuated and aloof that he turns suffering into an art thing.

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60

Washington Post Nicole Arthur

The film's loveliness does much to modulate its often maddening pace.

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50

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Eureka never comes to life. -- In pursuing its aesthetic agenda so single-mindedly, the movie leaves the characters behind in the muck.

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50

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

You may find yourself spellbound or colossally irritated; it's a close call either way.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Sal H. gave it a 10:
If you have seen this movie, qou know how life can be hard & beautiful at times.

Jaime C. gave it a 10:
The best film of 2001.

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