David Walsh World Socialist Web Site Feb 15, 2021

The film is calm and quiet, but without the intensity (and element of protest) at its core that Hou's films once possessed.

Go to Full Review

Michael E. Grost Classic Film and Television Dec 4, 2016

Remarkable visual trip through Japan.

Go to Full Review

Amy Taubin Film Comment Magazine Nov 19, 2013

Some 40 years after Ozu's death, the traditions that govern middle-class Japanese family life - the crux of his films - are even more frayed.

Go to Full Review

Jeffrey Overstreet JeffreyOverstreet.com (Ghost.io) Dec 30, 2007 A+

Like Ozu's Tokyo Story, the film is mourning the passage of an era and a tradition, and more than a little dismayed at the direction things are heading.

Go to Full Review

Jeffrey Chen Window to the Movies Sep 21, 2006 8/10

Rather than go the trivial route of aping Ozu's style and storytelling, [Hou] uses the techniques he's honed to create his own take on the state of Japan's ever increasing modernity.

Go to Full Review

Les Wright culturevulture.net Mar 19, 2006

Framing the visual haphazardness of urban streets in exquisite, dense, Shiko-like scroll paintings, Hou demonstrates how even in a megalopolis life is lived on a human scale, one day, one person at a time.

Go to Full Review

Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Mar 10, 2006 A+

A tribute to Yasujiro Ozu that can be seen as one film great saluting another from a different culture and time period.

Go to Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Jan 26, 2006 4/4

Like all Hou films, viewers will want to ponder Cafe Lumiere and its many layers well after this year's Oscars have come and gone.

Go to Full Review

Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune Jan 19, 2006 3.5/4

Both Hou and Ozu excel in evoking the poetry of everyday life, and, as a tribute from one great filmmaker to another, Cafe Lumiere should richly satisfy devotees of both artists.

Go to Full Review

Ted Fry Seattle Times Dec 2, 2005 3/4

The film often takes on the hypnotic rhythm of a dream.

Go to Full Review

Leo Goldsmith Not Coming to a Theater Near You Jun 21, 2005

The film looks for small connections and fragments of significance in the comings and goings of everyday life.

Go to Full Review

David Sterritt Christian Science Monitor Jun 16, 2005 4/4

Hou's sensitivity plus Ozu's inspiration equals sublimity of sight and sound.

Go to Full Review

Jay Weissberg Variety Jun 10, 2005

Hou fans will find what they're looking for; others will wonder when the action starts.

Go to Full Review

Ken Fox TV Guide Jun 10, 2005 3.5/5

An original work by a filmmaker who throughout his career has absorbed the best of what Ozu had to teach, and as such it stands as beautiful tribute from one master to another.

Go to Full Review

J. Hoberman Village Voice May 31, 2005

Although pegged as an author of contemplative mood pieces, Hou's originality as a filmmaker has much to do with both his handling of historical material and his daringly counterintuitive narrative structures.

Go to Full Review

Tom Dawson BBC.com May 31, 2005 4/5

The plot may be almost non-existent, but who cares when a film is both this serenely beautiful and quietly insightful.

Go to Full Review

A.O. Scott New York Times May 14, 2005 3/5

A fascinating curiosity, a chance to witness one major filmmaker paying tribute to another in the form of a rigorously minor film.

Go to Full Review

Daniel Kasman d+kaz. intelligent movie reviews May 14, 2005 B

Go to Full Review

Rich Cline Shadows on the Wall Nov 8, 2004 2.5/5

[This Ozu homage] is revealing and enlightening, but unlike Ozu's work, this is also somewhat dull and uninvolving.

Go to Full Review

Nick Schager Slant Magazine Oct 15, 2004 3.5/4

A languorous rumination on the relationship between the inescapable past, hesitant present, and daunting future.

Go to Full Review