No Longer Human (2019) User Reviews

Best Japanese novel acted by biggest names

[shotaroh · 6/10 · 31 May 2020]

It's about life of Osamu Dazai and his masterpiece which is rated as the best modern Japanese novel.

He was the one and only, true charismatic genius with disorders. His nature of inappropriate immoral put him at the edge of human kind. At the peak of his sufferings from realness and conflicts, his wife decides to support him with pain at next level. He finally crosses line, breaking everything with no hesitation, allowing himself to be out of human kind existance.

The plot is following the story of "ningen shikkaku" and real life of the mad genius. However the story is not displayed with depth at the standard of the original novel.(2hrs film will never describe fully)

The castings couldn't be done any better, using all the biggest names perfectly matching the main charactors. The picture is amazing and must be rated very high.

(The film itself is great but I have to be strongly critic towards the writer and director. They used the biggest masterpiece written by legend with all the big names. They literally had the best materials. I feel offended to see them acting as if they have done phenomenal creation from zero. They filmed Japanese spirit but the beautiful mentality is forgotten by themselves in real life. )

Good Enough

[PennyReviews · 5/10 · 11 May 2020]

" No Longer Human " had two elements that worked great : the cinematography and the performances.

The lead actor was amazing, with a top-notch performance and flawless acting. The rest of the cast did great as well, as expected from a stellar cast of notable and popular actors and actresses. However, the movie had too many characters that were overlooked, and overshadowed by the main ones.

Another factor that the movie handled perfectly was the cinematography. From the scenery with the flowers, mount Fuji, the cherry blossoms, to the era-appropriate settings and costumes. The camera work was brilliant and the overall result was just like reading a book.

However, the story was weak. Even though it is based on the popular and renowned book, the movie felt like it was focused on the main hero and his love for women. The ending was a bit confusing with the final scene simply erasing what had happened to the rest of the sequence. So, storywise, the movie didn't handle the material as well as they did with the cinematography and performances.

So, overall, five out of ten.