One day in Tokyo a litter of golden Labrador retrievers were born in the home of a woman named Mito and amongst these puppies was one who had a bird-shaped birthmark on his belly. It is this puppy that will one day be named Quill. For some reason or another, Ms. Mito wants her puppies to become Seeing Eye dogs, however, because their mother is from an unspectacular background, Mr. Tawada, the manager of a school that trains seeing eye dogs refuses to accept Ms. Mito's puppies. However, after days and days of repeatedly calling, Mr. Tawada finally gives in and says that he will take in one of the puppies.

After learning of a way to test to see which puppy will be selected, Ms. Mito calls the puppies over to her and only Quill hesitates when called and because of this he is the one who passes the test, because a seeing eye dog most not rush at the slightest provocation. After proving his ability, Quill is sent to the home of Isamu and Mitsuko Nii where he receives his name, lots of love and attention, and the ability to completely trust humans.

After spending a year at the Nii's, Quill is sent to Mr. Tawada's school where he begins his training. A bit slower than other dogs, Quill shows remarkable patience and is willing to wait extraordinarily long periods of time when told to do so. Having discovered Quill's patience, Mr. Tawada pairs the dog up with a man named Watanabe Mitsuru, a man who does not want to rely on anyone, human or animal, to aid him with his disability. However, through a few humorous exchanges, man and dog become friends and soon become almost inseparable. Yet, their days ahead are not just full of days walking in the sunshine and visiting shrines.

Yes Quill is a movie about the relationship between a dog and his master and yes it does have some ultra saccharine moments, however, it does not fall into the trap of being a complete sap fest. Each stage of Quill's life, at Ms. Mito's home, The Niis' home, with Mr. Tawada, at Mr. Watanabe's home, is handled delicately and the viewer gets to see the time and care used in training these special animals that aid people. Beautifully scored, Quill will touch the hearts of animal lovers the world over and will also make audiences buy boxes of tissues.

I saw this movie in the airplane, on my way back from Japan. The movie has a very beautiful music and a nice atmosphere, I want to see it again. Quill is a Japanese version of a Lassie. It made me think really about different matters, I never thought how guide dogs are trained. More interesting, the movie has a pretty nice main character, the blind guy who is refusing to accept that he needs a guide dog. The movie feels very nicely Japanese. Accepting the change is the main topic of the movie, how Quill, the guide dog, finds friends but eventually has to part from them. Eventually, isn't that what happens to all of us?

Before watching this film, I was feeling quite excited as I just had a certain idea of what Sai Yoichi might be as a filmmaker. He started his illustrious career as an assistant for Nagisa Oshima on the highly controversial art film "Empire of the senses". It was the same film for which the famous gangster turned filmmaker Koji Wakamatsu provided funds. In the recent past, I had seen only one film directed by him "Blood and Bones". For me,although it was a very violent film I had ever seen in my life, it enabled me to keenly watch and observe Kitano Takeshi's acting talents. So it was with such pleasant expectations and unknown surprises that I began watching this film with my family. At the end of the film, I was feeling elated as I had discovered an hitherto unknown facet of Japanese culture. To begin with, "Quill" made me catch glimpses of family life in Japan as it was shot in a small town away for the bustling metropolis Tokyo. Watching this film made me realize how much value people from Asian countries especially Koreans, Chinese and Japanese attach to English language and culture. It is true that one should try not to be sentimental about dogs, what pleased me the most was the emotional bond which Yochi Sai depicted by making a blind person aware of his dog's worthiness. There are moments of sadness in the film but all in all they served their purpose well. This is a point which all serious viewers would take away with them when they watch this simple, frank and honest film.