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The Sea of Trees

The Sea of Trees (2016)

August. 26,2016
|
6.1
|
PG-13
| Drama

In Japan's Aokigahara Forest, a troubled teacher meets a mysterious lost stranger who takes him on a life-changing journey of love and redemption.

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Reviews

Solemplex
2016/08/26

To me, this movie is perfection.

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Voxitype
2016/08/27

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

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Gurlyndrobb
2016/08/28

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

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Brainsbell
2016/08/29

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

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jimbillc
2016/08/30

Excellent movie that makes you really think about how life has many twists and turns and sometimes can be pretty rough for a while, and yet as we persevere we eventually see why things happen in our lives the way that they do. Our lives are really a series of unique tests that are individually tailored to each of us so that we can gain useful and crucial experience that helps us grow and be able to deal with each next step we take on our journey of life.The movie has a lot of parallels with Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life: Think of the Japanese man, Takumi Nakamura, that Arthur Brennan meets in the forest as It's a Wonderful Life's Clarence the Angel who jumps off the bridge right as George Bailey is almost ready to jump off, because he knows that George will instinctively jump off to save him, instead of taking his own life. Takumi and Arthur's subsequent conversations and journey trying to find their way back to the trail/parking lot is a lot like George Bailey in the end wanting to get back to his life that he hadn't previously thought of as being anything close to a wonderful life. Very last scene of It's a Wonderful Life is the written message George Bailey receives from Clarence in a copy of Tom Sawyer that states. " No man's life is a failure who has friends." Near the end of Sea of Trees Arthur receives the book Hansel and Gretel in which there is a message from the Takumi that has the season and color that is Matthew's wife's favorite season and color.

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carle_j
2016/08/31

This is a good movie. Machonaughy plays a role he doesn't usually play as does Watts. Wonatabe as well. The film explores the importance of living in the moment, tension in marriages, suicide, terminal illness, loss, guilt, supernatural forces and the power of the human spirit. It is one of those films that causes you to think. It isn't an entertaining film but it is so thought provoking on many levels that more than makes up for it. Watts is very good as are the other two actors. The Forest is a neat place as is any forest. Watch this one as it will cause you to think on things you might not otherwise give much thought.

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adonis98-743-186503
2016/09/01

A suicidal American befriends a Japanese man lost in a forest near Mt. Fuji and the two search for a way out. The Sea of Trees is one of the most underrated films i've seen in a while it has a great message about love and life and it the ending was terrific i really don't wanna spoil it except 2 little words "Yellow" & "Winter". Matthew McConaughey gives an amazing performance, Ken Watanabe is fantastic as always and Naomi Watts did a pretty good job also. As for negatives this movie had a slow pacing for the first 2 acts until something happened and totally changed my view on the movie, there was also a bit way too much exposition which i get it but it kinda bugged me at times and also the marketing made the film look like some kind of horror movie when it's just a drama. If you skip the horrible reviews and have a clear mind you gonna love it if not then stay away from it. I'm gonna give The Sea of Trees an 9.0 out of 10.

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lavatch
2016/09/02

The bonus track from the DVD of "The Sea of Trees" is entitled "A Story of Beauty and Tragedy." That pair of opposites recalls another seemingly contradictory literary work: the late medieval work of Dante known as "The Divine Comedy." The second part of Dante's poem is the poet's journey up the mountain of purgatory, as he is accompanied by his guide, Virgil. So too, in "The Sea of Trees," the protagonist, Arthur Brennan (Matthew McConaughey) has traveled to Japan in order to take his life in the forest of Aokigahara at the northwest base of Mount Fuji; it is there that he experiences his purgatory on earth.Arthur discovers his tour guide through the forest in another lost soul,Takumi Nakamura, as played by Ken Watanabe. Takumi is successful in allowing Arthur to bare his soul in his troubled relationship with his wife Joan (Naomi Watts). A string of flashback scenes paints the complete picture of the flawed marriage and eventual death of Joan. The emotion of guilt has led Arthur to his attempt at suicide. But he discovers redemption, due to the guidance of his friend in the forest.The film may have been successful in its goal of spinning a yarn of beauty and tragedy. The forest scenes are fascinating and well-photographed. The story is moving. And the actors are excellent. But, in the end, the film is never very profound.Dante's journey through purgatory offers an enormous range of human emotions and experiences. But "The Sea of Trees" is self-indulgent and limited in its monochromatic depiction of human guilt.

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