Anyone expecting the classical forms of plot and characterization in this film will be sadly disappointed. LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE has a minimal plot - a young student Akiko (Rin Takanashii),who may or may not be a prostitute, visits the home of elderly writer Takashi Watnabe (Tadashi Okuno); an affection develops between them, even though no physical contact takes place. Watnabe encounters Akiko's fiancé Noriaki (Ryô Kase),and convinces him that the two are related: Noriaki finds out that Watnabe is lying, and comes to his apartment and smashes a window, Abbas Kiarostami's focuses more on shifting moods - the sad resignation of Akiko as she goes about her business, neither enjoying nor appreciating it; the blank face of the cab-driver who takes her to Watnabe's apartment; the wistful looks of Watnabe as he looks at Akiko; for him she might be both desirable yet also an object of regret for his own lost youth. Kiarostami refuses to give us the security of explaining his characters' motivations; he leaves it up to us to make our own decisions. Comprised of long close-ups interspersed with shot/reverse shot sequences, the film is more focused on what is not said, rather than the dialog. What gives LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE its true freshness is the quality of its visual imagery:: the film is chock- full of prison images: we see the protagonists sitting in Watnabe's car through the windscreen, the world outside reflected in the class; the bright lights of Tokyo streets fade into a blur as the yellow cab drives through seemingly endless long and straight boulevards; Akiko is seen sleeping in Watnabe's bed through the frosted glass of the bedroom door; while Akiko and Watnabe exchange their dialog in the confined spaces of Watnabe's apartment or Watnabe's car. Through such techniques Kiarostani shows us how the characters are prisoners both of themselves - and their inability to disclose their feelings - and the urban environment, which confines them both night and day. The denouement is both unexpected and, in terms of the film's thematic preoccupations, quote shocking: by smashing Watnabe's window, Noriaki both literally and figuratively tries to break the prison-like atmosphere. But there is a sad irony here; although we see the window breaking ,we do not see any resolution as far as the characters are concerned. The title, and the Ella Bitzgerald song that is heard regularly on the soundtrack, are likewise ironic: the characters can never fall in love, but they merely act "like someone in love".

In Tokyo, a young prostitute (Rin Takanashi) develops an unexpected connection with a widower (Tadashi Okuno) over a period of two days.

At this point in his career, Abbas Kiarostami had been directing films for forty years, so he is no amateur. But it might be a bit of a new beginning, filming in Tokyo with an all-Japanese cast. In fact, had one not known better, they might assume the director was Japanese. What do these two worldviews create when blended?

Professor Nico Baumbach makes much of this cultural difference (and rightfully so),saying Kiarostami's foreign immersion "heightens in a new way the sense of the filmmaker as spectator", but is then quick to point out that despite this, we are not alienated from our subjects. The experience of distance "becomes the condition for an emotional connection that otherwise would not have been possible."

The film is also, in short, beautifully shot, with glorious cinematography. This is the sort of film, with its style and charismatic lead actress that one could watch for hours regardless of plot or substance. Critic David Denby says it more eloquently when he writes, "The cinematography is clear and hard-focused, and the editing produces long, flowing passages. This exquisitely made, elusive film has a lulling rhythm and a melancholy charm."

Akiko works as a call girl in Tokyo; we first meet her in a bar where she is on the phone to her boyfriend. He clearly doesn't trust her as he keeps asking her questions and refuses to believe that she is just with a girlfriend. When she hangs up she returns to talking with a man; he has arranged for her to spend the night with somebody 'important'… she isn't keen to go as she wants to see her grandmother and she has an exam in the morning. Eventually she gives in to the pressure and is driven to the man's house. It turns out he is an elderly retired professor who is more interested in having dinner with her than sleeping with her. The next morning he drives her to university and sees her boyfriend confront her, the boyfriend then approaches the car and, assuming the old man is Akiko's grandfather gets in and talks about his desire to marry Akiko. An awkward situation is averted but later when he learns the old man isn't Akiko's grandfather he gets violent.

If you want films to be fast paced them this isn't going to be for you; to say the pace is gentle is an understatement! Director Abbas Kiarostami shows things that don't normally appear in films; the elderly man doses off at traffic lights; this is not a hint that he will cause an accident just an old man feeling tired. Similarly the camera doesn't always show the people we expect it to; we don't see the old man's neighbour as she asks him to move his car and when there is some action it is off screen. Some may find these techniques boring or even pretentious but I found it interesting in the way that it drew me into the story; these felt like real people who one just happens to be watching for a short while. The ending will be a problem for some viewers as well; it certainly came as a shock to me; just as it looks as if something is going to happen it ends so don't expect any resolution. The cast perform well; Rin Takanashi brings a vulnerability to the role of Akiko, Tadashi Okuno is good as Takashi, the old man, and Ryo Kase somehow manages to be threatening but not totally unsympathetic as Akiko's boyfriend Noriaki. Overall I'd recommend this to anybody looking for something a little different.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.