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Love Letter

Love Letter

Romance · Drama · 1953

Five years after the end of the Second World War, Reikichi, a repatriated veteran, translates love letters for Japanese women to American GIs, while searching for his lost love, Michiko.

Movie details

Love Letter

1953 Romance · Drama 1h 38m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.2 / 10

Community rating

Five years after the end of the Second World War, Reikichi, a repatriated veteran, translates love letters for Japanese women to American GIs, while searching for his lost love, Michiko.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Love Letter?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Kinuyo Tanaka

Written by

Keisuke Kinoshita

Masayuki Mori

Masayuki Mori

Reikichi Mayumi

Yoshiko Kuga

Yoshiko Kuga

Michiko Kubota

Shizue Natsukawa

Shizue Natsukawa

Reikichi's mother

Jūkichi Uno

Jūkichi Uno

Naoto Yamaji

Chieko Seki

Chieko Seki

Office lady

Kyōko Anzai

Kyōko Anzai

Cast

J

Jûzô Dôsan

Hiroshi

Court is in session

Put Love Letter on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.