I enjoyed it, though I understand that some critics have found its slow, meditative pace to be boring. I admit there were some stretches where I felt that way, even though my overall feeling was positive. The few opportunities for humor were strongly embraced by the audience, and the lack of humor may have hurt it. Yet how can one insert much humor into this doleful a story?

I realized that the fantasy material was inserted, as was Reeves' Caucasian character. Yet I thought the film kept faith with (what I understand of) Japanese folklore traditions. even though in my experience *tengu* are usually represented not as snake-people, but crow-people.