Distance Three years after an apocalyptic cult released a biological weapon that killed hundreds and wounded thousands four relatives of people killed in the attack attempt to come to terms with what happened. While the nation mourns the deaths of the victims these four try to come to terms with the deaths of some of the cult members. Stranded in the woods where the cult had lived and where their relatives ashes were scattered, after their car is stolen they are forced to spend the night with one of the few survivors of the cult. There is much talk and reflection as the quartet attempt to find out what drove their loved ones to take part in such a terrible act. This is a film that will enthrall some and drive others to pull their hair out as conversations seem to trail off and people seem to speak haltingly. We catch glimpses of the past in flashback as each person reflects on when their loved ones were still alive and we see the events filtered with the knowledge of what came after. Things are not always spelled out and its not always clear who is who or what is going on. It's a film you have to work with. Personally I'm not sure what I make of this film. I like the realness of it, but there are times when I feel as though it's more than a bit contrived, never to the point of being bad, but just so its slightly disappointing (that something that gets so much right can be so lumpy at times) Still it makes you feel and makes you think about things more than most films these days. Worth seeing, especially if you're interested in seeing a film that deals with subjects that are pressing in today's world.

Before his more mainstream success, kick-started by 2004's "Nobody Knows", Kore-eda Hirokazu was a documentarian who branched out into an interesting brand of cinema with slow pacing, mood lighting and naturalistic acting. His documentary experience had been put to use, with the use of long takes, improvised dialogue and even clips from previously filmed interviews.

Starting with the mournful "Maborosi", followed-up with the inventive and thought-provoking "After Life", 2001's "Distance" is the third in his initial trio of films that are similar in style and unlike his subsequent films that would see him garner more mainstream recognition abroad.

Obviously based on the Aum cult and the Tokyo gas attack of 1995, the "Ark of Truth" cult attack three years previous on water supplies to the city left dozens dead. As an annual remembrance, four relatives of members of the cult meet and visit the lake where they were based, but the reasons for this act are unclear.

Having their transportation mysteriously stolen, they are left stranded out in the forest with no phone signal for help. It is here their party becomes five, as former cult member Sakata (Tadanobu Asano) - though he abandoned them before the attack - also finds his bike stolen and unable to get home.

He takes them to his former living quarters while he was with the cult to spend the night. Here they discuss their family members and Sakata's recollections of them and muse on how things came to be; before going their separate ways in the morning to meet "same time next year."

With the picnic, day out feel, the film is shot largely in a homemade style, with hand-held cameras and grainy footage, adding to the sense of mystery and intrigue. These blurred images are contrasted with the more conventionally shot flashbacks that each of the five have as to their family members as they first started to realise they were members of a cult. Though these images' greater clarity do not make the picture any clearer for those left behind.

The interactions between the five are natural for a group that has little in common other than being relatives of cult members. Perhaps reflecting the fact that Kore-eda saw the film evolve and gave the cast members differing direction, forcing improvisation within the long takes, handled well by the cast of Asano, ARATA, Susumu Terajima, Yusuke Iseya and Yui Natsukawa. Indeed, the film is littered with shots of the five positioned together, but looking in various directions or visibly apart; distant from each other, as well as their loved ones. Though as a double-edged sword, the documentary nature of the filming and dialogue may frustrate some viewers, as he favours naturalism over entertainment.

Perhaps intentionally, much like "Maborosi" before it, there is no concluding answer, as the motivations behind such acts will forever be unexplained. Though if "Maborosi", as has been described, is a haiku, then "Distance" would perhaps be better as a novel: An exploration of mindset, but unable to deliver the rounded conclusions required in the cinematic form. Indeed Kore-eda went on to spend much of the time after making "Distance" writing. One almost feels that if you were to combine "Distance" with the interviews of "After Life" you would have something along the lines of Haruki Murakami's "Underground" on the Aum attacks.

Kore-eda offers something of an ending to a story, though it is one with open ends in-line with the rest of the film. Atsushi (ARATA),the supposed brother of one of the cult members with whom Sakata was close, may not be the man he claims. Some beautiful cinematography from Yutaka Yamazaki to close reveal he is perhaps the estranged son of the cult leader, a man to which the others will no doubt hold some contempt. But this only furthers any confusion that may already be present in a film that asks many questions.

Alongside "Hana" and "Air Doll", "Distance" is in the trio of Kore- eda films to gain most criticism, for being a slow and drudging watch with a lack of satisfying conclusion to justify it all. But with the naturalism, air of intrigue and lack of conclusion as an end in itself, "Distance" has strong elements of good filmmaking and it is wrong to call it a bad film, rather one requiring more form to satisfy a wider audience.

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Don't look here for answers to 9/11 or the Aum incident. Best tries for that would be read Haruki Murakami's "Underground" (Vintage International 2001) or see Shinji Aoyama's "Eureka." "Distance" has two significant sets. First is a dirt road through a skyless (camera doesn't look up) forest. A group connected in various ways with former Aum members, come to honor the tragedy but stranded by a car breakdown, take forever deciding whether to walk backward or forward. Suspense builds, a little like that around the host and guests unable to leave in Buñuel's "Exterminating Angel." The sole Aum vet among them (he got out before the serin) offers a third option, essentially go sideways (almost as if Buñuel's crowd had decided to walk out toward the camera or away from it through a wall),leading to the second significant set, a not quite barracks-like abandoned Aum building. Discussion there, centering on the building's dispersed inhabitants, reminds of the Aum member interviews in the second half of "Underground." The ending's ambiguous, so ambiguous that four months later, I can't remember it other than in images.

What I do recall is Director Kore-eda speaking after my screening. Though he'd been forthcoming throughout the rest of the Q and A, when two or three people challenged the ending he began excusing and apologizing, seeming to second-guess his edits. I'm not sure he should have apologized. Strictly in images, the film has a beginning, center, and end: the road in; the bright (even at night electrically and the bridge and lake that figure in one of the tales are more brightness) heart of darkness; the road out. Last thing I remember, though I'm not sure it was right at the end, is a bright, franchise-looking shop, one of the group running in to get something.