Love Letter

"Lost love lives on."

1995 1h 57m JA

🙌

7.8

BANGER

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.8TMDB · 280★7.9IMDB · 13,737

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Hiroko attends the memorial service of her fiancé, Itsuki Fujii, who died in a mountain-climbing incident. Although Itsuki's mother says that their old house is gone, Hiroko records the address listed under his name in his yearbook and sends him a letter. Surprisingly, she receives a reply, and discovers it came from his old classmate, a girl who also happens to be called Itsuki Fujii.

“Lost love lives on.”

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Cast

Miho Nakayama
Hiroko Watanabe / Female Itsuki Fujii
Etsushi Toyokawa
Shigeru Akiba
Miki Sakai
Young Female Itsuki Fujii
Takashi Kashiwabara
Young Male Itsuki Fujii
Bunjaku Han
Female Itsuki's Mother
Katsuyuki Shinohara
Female Itsuki's Grandfather
Mariko Kaga
Male Itsuki's Mother
Keiichi Suzuki
Male Itsuki's Father

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Shunji Iwai
Writers: Shunji Iwai
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

31 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "いわいしゅんじ Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Shunji Iwai, shot by Noboru Shinoda. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by REIMY. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Shunji Iwai shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Miho Nakayama and Etsushi Toyokawa and Miki Sakai carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Lost love lives on.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0113703 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Shunji Iwai directs. Noboru Shinoda behind the camera. REIMY scores. Shunji Iwai cuts. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

131 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Part of the "いわいしゅんじ Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Shunji Iwai, shot by Noboru Shinoda. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by REIMY. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Shunji Iwai shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Miho Nakayama and Etsushi Toyokawa and Miki Sakai carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Lost love lives on.".
8IMDB entry: tt0113703 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 12 themes, including "letter", "love letter", "grief", "snow".
10Released under 12 different titles around the world.