Toshiaki Toyoda's latest is a definite departure from his previous films about young Japanese men on the fringes of society suffering from alienation and ennui. This time he adapts a novel about a Japanese family whose motto is "keep no secrets from each other, be ashamed of nothing". The main character is the mother, played by excellent actress Kyôko Koizumi, with father, daughter, son and grandmother making up the rest of the unit.

Toyoda explained that the "Hanging Garden" is both a reference to Babylon and the "rootlessness" of Japanese society (plants in a hanging garden cannot extend their roots into the soil). The film features some very unusual and mesmerising camera work, such as having the camera swing as if in a hanging basket.

The film is complex and rich, defying easy description or summary. Suffice to say that the families adherence to their creed turns out to be less than absolute.

HANGING GARDEN is Toyoda's most successful movie in Japan (by quite a long way, I would imagine),capturing a female audience his earlier films could never have hoped to reach, as well as appealing to older generations of cinema-goers. Toyoda's intelligence, his deep understanding of characters and actors and his confidence in forging his own cinematic language are all brought to a new level with this film, though it loses some "coolness" as a trade-off. The film does have the same kind of subtle development as 9 SOULS, where scenes and events build layer upon layer like the composition of a painter, but for me the end result didn't reach quite the same level of awe-inspiration. Perhaps because my expectations were higher this time around, perhaps because I can relate less to the central character than any of the 9 protagonists of his last film.

Still, Toyoda has again proved himself to be a smarter and more individual film-maker than the vast majority of his peers.

A wonderful art-house film. Hanging Garden is a story of a complicated family with the motto: "No secrets in the house" where everyone is always smiling with a 'mask' on. It was quite interesting to see how this dysfunctional family kept itself together.

Koizumi Kyouko was fantastic in the role of the mother with a dark past. This movie is just so well-directed and camera-work is incredible. Even though majority of the scenes were shot in very ordinary urban environment, there were many stunning scenes. I must admit I didn't appreciate the constant 360 degrees rotation of the camera, I guess it's reference to the rotating bed in the love hotel, but it kind of disoriented me after a while... not the best film to watch when you're sleep deprived.

I didn't really expect too much at the beginning of this film, but I was completely absorbed by the story as the movie progressed. I especially love the ending because I'm a sucker for epiphany scenes in movies, and the one in this movie is possibly the ultimate. A very satisfying viewing experience, this film deserved a lot more awards.

I have heard good thing about this movie so decided to check it out and by reading about it. I could sort of tell it's the type of movie that I would be into, where the surrounding is generic but the direction makes it enthralling. The movie revolves around a typical Japanese family but there is elements that make it intriguing, one of them is how the family has a certain rule. That "Never conceal the truth, no subject is taboo" so the whole family share everything. Which makes it interesting since most Asian families are conservative in most aspects. Instead of a comedy direction though it goes in a sort of real live direction in Japanese society. The most effective aspect of this movie is the depth of it all and how the truth about the family unfolds bit by bit. Overall this movie did a pretty good job of what it tries to accomplish while showing how something that may seem normal maybe much more underneath it all.

7.8/10