Tribeca Review: The Keeper of the Camphor Tree is as gorgeous and sprawling as the tree at its center
The massive tree at the center of (and in the title of) The Keeper of the Camphor Tree serves as a fitting symbol of the movie that surrounds it. Adapted from Keigo Higashino's novel, this film is sprawling and gorgeous, and its story has many branches that sometimes intersect in surprising ways. It covers so much ground, and has a gravity to it that pulled me in and left me weeping. It's a powerful tale, and beautifully rendered. The eponymous keeper is Reito, a young man whose life is a mess. He was recently unfairly fired from a job that also provided his housing, and in a bid to get revenge, he ends up behind bars. Without family to rely on, a job to go back to, things don't look so good for him. Until a mysterious man shows up offering to bail him out on behalf of a wealthy aunt Reito doesn't know, one who has a new assignment for him: to serve as the manager/caretaker of the Camphor Tree. This tree is a sort of shrine/religious site, one that's often swarming ...
