Nice writing, great performances, beautiful cinematography and strong music all help to add to the experience of this movie. Symbolism is literally spilled all over the screen. Yeah, this movie is 16 years old and is basically unknown; but I'd say it was great and worth a watch still today.

I'm very glad to find this film much better than Japanese mass products and half-done "(quasi-)arthouse films", which became worse and more hypocritical in these 10 years. "Nagai sanpo" is a simple story, of parenthood, of neglect and abuse by parent on children and of repentance and spiritual rebirth. An old man and a little girl are shown here as the past and the present, as two contrast persons concerning the same problem. He is a man who harmed and ruined his wife's life and his daughter's childhood. She is the victim of her mother's neglect and abuse. He tries to save her life, giving her a sense of warmth and intimacy, in which her poor family life is lacking. But unfortunately, in the course of things it takes a form of kidnapping. Cinematography is very beautiful and clear,the original music sounds as if an organic part of these characters' state of mind. Not too long, not too slow,everything seems natural and--at the same time--very sad,because we know similar stories are going in reality, children and young people are dying or committing suicide every day because of neglect,abuse and violence of their own parents or their surrounding people.

It is a shame that this movie is not all that well known. I only came across it because I wanted to check out Shota Matsuda's acting talent (him being brother of Ryohei Matsuda) and I am very glad I did because 'Nagai Sanpo' is a real gem. I was reminded of a darker version of 'Kikujiro', both tell a story of journey in which an ill adapted man and a child with issues travel across Japan. But in this case there is no comedy but heart wrenching honesty from every frame.

The journey is spiritual and one of personal redemption, symbolism flits through the very natural flow of scenes but it never encroaches upon a clearcut plot. Few times have I seen child neglect and abuse portrayed so realistically and that only gives dynamism to the changes that the little girl undergoes. These are gradual enough to be plausible and are not linear. The result is a truthful account of a child that goes from being borderline catatonic and with no communication skills to someone that laughs, speaks and even comforts. A parallel evolution happens to the man who faces his past mistakes to save her and in the process himself. He too is haunted and in need of reshaping his views of the world as well and physically pushing himself to live fully in it. Were it not for his training he would never have been able to take flight, both literally and psychologically.

But for all the touching moments and rays of hope the movie never veers into sweet illusions of universal salvation. That is what Shota Matsuda's character reminds us of. He remains a mystery, his background unknown apart from what he reveals of it (which may very well be fabricated) and even his full name is not known. His motivations are never made overt and no one can tell what led him to commit suicide. But that too is life: fiction often prepares a nicely arranged set of facts in an order but in reality there is much left unknown in human interactions.

The beautiful scenario and sober soundtrack add more impact to this wonderful movie that anyone should watch.