Shinji Aoyama's Eureka concerns three people branded by a traumatic event (a busjack) who then try to cope with their issues by reliving the path with a new bus. The protagonists are two siblings, Naoki and Kazue, mute ever since the accident, and the bus driver Makoto. Eureka is a fascinating but exhausting experience - it lasts over 3,5 hours.It is shot in a sepia tone for its entirety, except for the very final shot which is in color. In the end, Makoto and Kazue overcome their scarred past and start a new life. The scene where Kazue throws away some shells named after the most influential people in her life (thus making way for rebirth) is followed by an enlightenment of sorts, both in the terms of transition from sepia to color and from traumatic stress to a better life. This may be why this movie is called Eureka. The flow of the movie is very meditative and memorable. There are many moments of pure silence and of little to no action. It moves very slow, but has a hypnotic ring to it and you can't help but feel drawn to it after being confused in the beginning. Aoyama uses multiple repetitive or cyclical patterns all throughout; the seesaw-resembling thing by the window constantly going up and down, Makoto turning the lamp on and off continuously, or the scene where he drives around and around on his bike with Naoki. It all seems very realistic and like a window to someone's life, and in the end makes you feel a lot more for the characters, not to mention the acting is excellent as well. The performances are just incredible.Aoyama's movie contains many panoramic shots which stay still for a long time and follow the characters around, but there are also many recurring motifs like bottles of water or the starry decoration hanging by the rear bus window. Some shots are unforgettable, like the one at the beginning, when the busjacker points the gun at the children with his dying breath. The occasional scenes with strong dramatic value are made even more powerful by the movie's slow pace. The music isn't always there, but when it is, it fits the scenes beautifully with its celestial, atmospheric quality.Eureka does go on for a bit too long, but it is truly one of the most unique cinematic experiences you'll encounter. It's a film well worth watching if you have time to kill or are into slow-paced movies.9,5/10

There are several fine ideas here: that a shocking, arbitrary incident can taint you in the eyes of yourself and society; that a whole swathe of your life can be spent in a sepia daze; and that a colourful epiphany can release you. This is entirely a concept film buoyed up by these ideas.A successful effort? Not really. It is shot in a bleached pinkish wash which either gives it an ultra-cool arty look - or a corny Adobe Premiere filter look - and the gimmick may well account for the film's length - a lot of shots were probably included that would normally have been ditched for being too dull.The 3 1/2 hours length was designed to let it slowly seep into you. Problem was, it had made all its points, done all its seepage, in the first half hour and I'm not sure if the extra three hours added anything at all except the opportunity for you to build up a catalogue of peeves.Aoyama loves the device of showing you something you can't make head or tail of until some time later when it is explained. It's important not to be too obvious in a film, but this trick, done repeatedly, can make it hard work. On top of that, many of the silent, almost motionless scenes we are shown seem interchangeable with almost anything of our own choice. There are far too many arbitrary, meaningless scenes.And the psychology is frail. I didn't feel the traumatic near-death incident at the beginning (a bus-jacking) was anywhere near enough to make two children stop speaking and turn someone into an improbable serial killer. So I didn't have essential sympathy for the characters and that was fatal. Being so determined to be arty, the film didn't allow us to get to know them properly - no close ups, only an impassive wide angle that physically alienates. There were also periods, especially in the early part of the film where I had trouble telling one character from another as scenes switched erratically between two families.And one final thing I hated: a character had an annoying hacking cough for much of the film - I was furious when it finally turned out that there was no significance to it at all. Possibly the actor really did have a bad cough so they built it in.Basicaly dull, and including some big mistakes (like the ultra-wide format), I only give it a special-mention certificate for being different.

There are many bleak films these days, but Sinji Aoyama's maps out a hard time that perhaps is idiomatic of the way we all end up treated sometimes. Makoto a bus driver is involved in a bus hijacking along with 2 children. To cut to the chase the victim becomes the accused and despite myriad intentions to the contrary is treated pretty badly by society as a whole. If anything Eureka maps out the impetus of what forces many into the bases of traumas and the beginnings of lives on the margins. It maintains a slight from of hope in the film through only by making the bleak a cutting point for morality. A test Makoto passes more so than others. The point being the best don't always win, but at least they hold their passions through and through. Taiwanese DVD is dual-language and international code so will play anywhere. Music by Albert Ayler, Jim O'Rourke, and the director make the cut.

the first thing i heard about this movie was that it would be a 3.5 hours long black and white movie with a minimum of dialogues. that was all i needed to know to impatiently anticipate seeing Eureka. it took a while and it only showed in three cinema's here in belgium, in one cinema each month for they had only one copy of the film, so when i heard it played i found myself lucky to finally see it with a showing rate of once a day only five days/week. a bit surprised but then again could've guessed not a lot of people where in the (very)small theatre. as for most movies i anxiously await i held my breath, but this one captured me from the start. ok, better said: after the first scene is over you get involved with the three survivors of the bus-jacking, the driver and two kids - who never speak again from that day on and seem to live on their own (no one seems to know what ever happened to their parents... which is great, i love certain things that aren't explained in the movies,). but now i give away more than i like when writing about movies (this thing about the parents isn't even that important to the story, hence the give-away of this detail) *also, note that i saw this movie in september 2001 and never found it again to see or buy (if anyone has it and wants to get rid of it...)* the film is split up in three major parts. the first describes the fall and 'resurrection' of the driver, the second focusses on the children and how the three meet up again and try to bring their lives back into balance, the last part takes you on a final road trip through the country in a bus turned camper as a final solution type of thing. the last seconds hold a nice little surprise! (k, not a big o' deal - allthough it has this particular distinct meaning,wich i found quite amusing! -and will b lost for 99% of the viewers- the meaning that is) i know the duration was a turn of for a lot of people and i guess i can understand why most find Eureka boooring, but people like that never ever see these things in their whole perspective. if this movie were to've been made more up-tempo'd, it would've lost it's charm toootally. stories like these won't be told just that easily, it has to be absorbed in it's entirety, so one can feel every emotion intended, also gives you a bit time to think about things as you see them unfold instead of afterwords when you have to recollect the whole movie (which i did anyway but hey) this is a must-see-movie when being a moviejunk (especially the anti-hollywood-cinemaniacs) are u an emotional type? with eyes for beauty? see it.