Fresh
Noriko's Dinner Table embraces [suicidal] tendencies with gusto and striking originality. The film is a boldly fragmented and tantalizing saga.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
Noriko's Dinner Table
The family that eats together stays together.
2005 · 2h 39m · Not Rated
Drama, Horror, Thriller
Directed by
Sion Sono
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Noriko's Dinner Table
Overview
A teenager named Noriko Shimabara runs away from her family in Toyokawa, to meet Kumiko, the leader of an Internet BBS, Haikyo.com. She becomes involved with Kumiko's family circle, which grows darker after the mass suicide of 54 high school girls.
Director and cast
- Sion Sono Director
- Kazue Fukiishi as Noriko Shimabara
- Tsugumi as Kumiko - Ueno Station 54
- Yuriko Yoshitaka as Yuka Shimabara - Yôko
- Shirô Namiki as Ikeda - Tetsuzô's Friend
- Ken Mitsuishi as Tetsuzo Shimabara
- Sanae Miyata as Taeko Shimabara
- Yoko Mitsuya Cast
- Tamae Ando Cast
- Naoko Watanabe Cast
- Hanako Onuki Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
64%
Tomatometer
Rotten
Noriko's Dinner Table is both prequel and sequel to Suicide Club -- but never its equal. It's twice as long and three times as ponderous.
James C. Taylor, L.A. Weekly
Fresh
Although certain aspects of [director] Sono's opus may get lost in translation, you don't need to know Japanese to understand the pitfalls of contemporary communication.
Raven Snook, Time Out New York
Rotten
Too long by half.
Leslie Felperin, Variety
Fresh
One of the most ambitious tonal mash-ups in memory, Noriko's Dinner Table is a domestic comedy, a bloody psychological thriller and a comment on the fragility of identity.
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times
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