Review of Noriko's Dinner Table (2005) by Brock J — 28 Aug 2008

It is exceedingly difficult for me to understand how a movie spawned from the terribly constructed and ill construed "Suicide Club" could have come out a movie of this caliber. "Noriko's Dinner Table", while connected to "Suicide Club", seems tangentially connected at best, and in my opinion, this is likely what allowed it to be so good.

"Noriko's" is somewhat a coming-of-age story about two girls in Japan. Covering topics as broad as internet socializing culture, traditional family structures, definitions of how we relate to eachother and ultimately, how very connected and influential we all are.

"Noriko's" is a long and heavy film. It is also almost nothing like "Suicide Club" in storytelling, characterization and content. The entire film, while depressing and at times filled with mind-twisting topics comes together to form a cohesive, powerful narrative that says a lot (Maybe even too much) and will have you thinking about it long after.

While "Suicide Club" was a total miss, "Noriko's" is a fantastic film; and thankfully, completely seperate from it's precurosor. Don't even bother with "Suicide Club" given that the only connections are passing references irrelevant to the story.

Watch this movie.