Japan, 2008, 114 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: Drama, Foreign
Language: Japanese English Sub-Titles
DIRECTOR: Hirokazu Kore-eda
US Distributor: IFC Films
Exclusive Engagement Plays October 16 - 22, 2009 - - Starz FilmCenter
35mm Presentation - Ryota is the 40-year-old son of the Yokoyama family. He has recently married a widow, who is joining him on a rare visit home. Only his elderly parents now live in the house, which once doubled as a flourishing medical clinic. The annex, a medical examining room still boasting a wall of pharmaceuticals, remains unchanged, though the patriarchal doctor has retired. Despite the unchanged outward appearances, everything has slightly aged. Ryota and his siblings have gathered with their parents to remember Junpei, the eldest son, who drowned while saving another 15 years earlier. Writer/director Hirokazu Kore-eda's characters come sharply to life, exchanging dialogue that both delights and tugs at your heart. As the film unfolds, brimming with compelling realism, it reveals the modest joys and gentle sorrows that accompany the realization that life must inevitably move on. The Yokoyamas are a typical dysfunctional family, bonded by love as well as resentments and secrets. With a subtle balance of gentle humor and wistful sorrow, Kore-eda (Nobody Knows, After Life, Maborosi) portrays just how difficult, and exactly how precious, family can be.