Minamata

Name: Minamata
Genre: Drama
Released: February 11, 2022
Duration: 115 min
Rating: 55
Cast: Akiko Iwase, Bill Nighy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Johnny Depp, Jun Kunimura

2022

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 51 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 51 Ratings

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Minamata (US Trailer 1)

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Movie Details & Credits

Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: February 11, 2022 | R

Starring: Akiko Iwase, Bill Nighy, Hiroyuki Sanada, Johnny Depp, Jun Kunimura, Katherine Jenkins, Kogarashi Wakasugi, Lily Robinson, Masayoshi Haneda, Minami, Muneaki Kitsukawa, Nikaru Inagawa, Ryo Kase, Sonata Molocajeviene, Tadanobu Asano, Yosuke Hosoi

Summary: Celebrated war photographer W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp) goes against a powerful corporation responsible for poisoning the people of Minamata, Japan in 1971. With the glory days of World War II far behind him, Smith has become a recluse. Between an impassioned Japanese translator called Aileen (Minami) urging him to go and a much neededCelebrated war photographer W. Eugene Smith (Johnny Depp) goes against a powerful corporation responsible for poisoning the people of Minamata, Japan in 1971. With the glory days of World War II far behind him, Smith has become a recluse. Between an impassioned Japanese translator called Aileen (Minami) urging him to go and a much needed commission from "Life" Magazine editor Ralph Graves (Bill Nighy), Smith is finally convinced to journey back to Japan to expose the devastating annihilation of a coastal community, victims of corporate greed and complicit local police and government. Armed with only his trusted Nikon camera, Smith must find the images that will bring this story to the World.… Expand

Director: Andrew Levitas

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: R

Runtime: 115 min

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Critic Reviews

Richard Whittaker

Feb 10, 2022

In its dour and often depressing depiction of environmental struggle, 1970s-set true-life pollution drama Minimata would pair well with Todd Haynes’ Dark Waters. Read full review

Peter Debruge

Feb 28, 2020

Depp plays it surly throughout, dominating those around him, but Minami has a strong screen presence as well (despite struggling somewhat with the dialogue in her first English-language role). As Aileen, she needs only to look at Gene, and he will yield to her demands. The two characters read as equals here, despite their polar-opposite personalities, and that unusual chemistry fuels the dangerous reporting ahead of them. Read full review

Noel Murray

Feb 10, 2022

Like Smith’s pictures, this movie is direct, compelling and hard to dismiss. Read full review

Alex Saveliev

Feb 15, 2022

Coupled with a few inspired moments and an earnestness that’s hard to dismiss, the film manages, just barely, to stand out from the rest. Read full review

Liam Lacey

Apr 4, 2022

The trouble starts with the script, which wobbles between an investigative thriller and a psychological study. Read full review

Jonathan Romney

Feb 28, 2020

Altogether solemn in tone, the film is undeniably handsome, with DoP Benoît Delhomme steeping the Japanese landscape in melancholy atmospherics, but Minimata tends to over-aestheticise its material, not least in the too-elegant recreations of Smith’s black and white imagery. Read full review

The Telegraph Tim Robey

Feb 28, 2020

The film isn’t a write-off – well-handled, it could have had the sober dramatic voltage of Todd Haynes’s Dark Waters, which relates a now-familiar story of corporate malfeasance in a different place and time. The problems are of style, focus and intent. Read full review

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User Reviews

Louvizgarra

Feb 10, 2021

EXCELENTE PELÍCULA. ME ENCANTÓ, LA ACTUACIÓN DE DEEP ES IMPECABLE COMO SIEMPRE.
SIN DUDAS LA RECOMIENDO..

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Lissss

Jun 7, 2021

Fantastic movie. Had never heard about what happened. Beautifully told and acted.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

Beast1549

Sep 15, 2021

Фильм просто супер. Сюжет и игра Джонни Деппа просто великолепны.
А псевдо критикам надо бы подлечить голову и делать справедливы обзоры, а не следовать повестке. Долой культуру отмены!Фильм просто супер. Сюжет и игра Джонни Деппа просто великолепны.
А псевдо критикам надо бы подлечить голову и делать справедливы обзоры, а не следовать повестке. Долой культуру отмены!

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Matinsaleki

Jul 15, 2021

Minamata,The best drama movie of the last few years And showing one of the best forms of acting and directing in a drama film in recent years.
The movie was really good and Johnny Depp was great as always!

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

esfrances

Sep 24, 2021

If you want a movie that will stop you in your tracks and question everything about, well, everything (without giving too much away) that will literally leave you speechless. Then this is the for movie for you. Johnny Depp deserves every possible award for his performance in this film. It'sIf you want a movie that will stop you in your tracks and question everything about, well, everything (without giving too much away) that will literally leave you speechless. Then this is the for movie for you. Johnny Depp deserves every possible award for his performance in this film. It's powerful.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Brent_Marchant

Apr 9, 2022

No matter how old and detached we may get, it's never too late to redeem ourselves, especially in the name of a just cause. So it was in 1971 for acclaimed wartime photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, who had fallen on hard times and faded from the public eye, despite his many accomplishments.No matter how old and detached we may get, it's never too late to redeem ourselves, especially in the name of a just cause. So it was in 1971 for acclaimed wartime photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, who had fallen on hard times and faded from the public eye, despite his many accomplishments. However, when an opportunity arose to go to Japan on assignment for Life magazine to document the suffering of residents of the fishing village of Minamata, whose waters had become poisoned with mercury and caused many to fall ill over a course of 15 years (a sickness that had come to be known as "Minimata disease"), he jumped on the chance to cover an ongoing uncontrolled tragedy that had been significantly underreported. This fact-based film thus follows Smith as he seeks to expose the acts of a powerful and corrupt corporation attempting to duck its responsibilities while battling his own personal demons, undertakings that offer the possibility of redemption on both fronts. In doing so, director Andrew Levitas presents viewers with a classic "issues film" much in the same vein as "Erin Brockovich" (2000) and "Dark Waters" (2019), focusing on the personal angle of this catastrophe, showing its impact on the protagonist and victims in graphic yet heart-tugging terms. Admittedly, the tone can be somewhat heavy-handed at times, but this is compensated for by the picture's gorgeous cinematography, its superb Ryiuchi Sakamoto background score, and the fine lead performance of Johnny Depp, who turns in some of the best work he's done in years. Indeed, despite the film's tendency to preach, its message is nevertheless important -- one that probably can't be overstated in light of its impact and magnitude (and as only one example of many such ecological disasters that have occurred globally, as depicted in a montage of comparable events shown over the closing credits). This is genuinely something we must all remain diligent about, and, thankfully, that cause can be furthered by efforts like those shown here, reminding us that this planet is our home and deserves the kind of protection that so many others are willing to deliberately ignore.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Aug 14, 2021

Minamata is weak despite the good things that get out of its subject matter.

There are certain things that work, and many others that don't, which is a shame considering how much serious journalism needs to be vindicated in the era of ''fake news'' in social media. Johnny Depp does a goodMinamata is weak despite the good things that get out of its subject matter.

There are certain things that work, and many others that don't, which is a shame considering how much serious journalism needs to be vindicated in the era of ''fake news'' in social media.

Johnny Depp does a good job, especially in the characterization, and I guess these will be the kind of movies where we'll be seeing him considering he's banned from blockbusters right now.… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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