is a 2003

Japanese film The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world; as of 2021, it was the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. In 2011 Japan produced 411 feature films that ea ...

directed by Taiwanese director

Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien (; born 8 April 1947) is a Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement. He won the Golden Lion at the Venice ...

for

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...

as homage to

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

, with direct reference to the late director's ''

Tokyo Story is a 1953 Japanese drama film directed by Yasujirō Ozu and starring Chishū Ryū and Chieko Higashiyama about an aging couple who travel to Tokyo to visit their grown children. Upon release, it did not immediately gain international recogniti ...

'' (1953). It premiered at a festival commemorating the centenary of Ozu's birth. It was nominated for a Golden Lion at the 2004

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

Plot

The story revolves around Yoko Inoue (played by

Yo Hitoto is a Japanese-Taiwanese pop singer. Her mother is Japanese and her father is Taiwanese. She can speak three languages: Japanese, English, and Mandarin. Tae Hitoto is her older sister. Her name Hitoto is not her real surname, it is her mother's ...

), a young Japanese woman doing research on Taiwanese composer

Jiang Wen-Ye Chiang Wen-yeh or Jiang Wenye (, June 11, 1910 – October 24, 1983) was a Taiwanese composer, active mainly in Japan and later in China. While often known in the West by renditions of his Chinese name, the three Chinese characters that form his ...

, whose work is featured on the soundtrack. The late composer's Japanese wife and daughter also make appearances as themselves.

Cast

- Yoko Inoue (井上陽子 ''Inoue Yōko'') *

Tadanobu Asano , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor. He is known for his roles as Dragon Eye Morrison in ''Electric Dragon 80.000 V'', Kakihara in ''Ichi the Killer'', Mamoru Arita in '' Bright Future'', Hattori Genosuke in ''Zatoichi'', Kenj ...

- Hajime Takeuchi (竹内肇 ''Takeuchi Hajime'') *

Masato Hagiwara is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and professional mahjong player. Biography When Hagiwara was three years old, his parents divorced and he was taken in by his father. However, his father died when he was in the fourth grade, and was th ...

- Seiji *

Kimiko Yo is a Japanese actress. She was given Best Supporting Actress awards at the 2004 and the 2009 Yokohama Film Festival ceremonies. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 32nd and at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize (film), Japan Academy ...

- Yoko's stepmother *

Nenji Kobayashi is a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 23rd Japan Academy Prize for ''Poppoya''. Kobayashi signed with Toei in 1961 and started his acting career with small roles. Filmography Film * '' Soshiki Bōryoku'' (196 ...

- Yoko's father

Reception

''Café Lumière'' was placed at 98 on

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York ...

's best films of the 2000s. In 2019, director

Steve McQueen Terrence Stephen McQueen (March 24, 1930November 7, 1980) was an American actor. His antihero persona, emphasized during the height of the counterculture of the 1960s, made him a top box-office draw for his films of the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1 ...

named it as the best film of the 21st century, describing it as " film that happens without you knowing."

Notes

External links

* 2003 films Taiwanese drama films 2000s Japanese-language films Films directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien Shochiku films Films with screenplays by Chu T’ien-wen 2000s Japanese films Japanese drama films {{2000s-Japan-film-stub