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Wednesday, November 29, 2017

UMIMACHI DIARY / OUR LITTLE SISTER (2015)

Hirokazu Kore-eda pays the sort of attention to life’s surface ripples most filmmakers reserve for high drama, getting you to adjust to his wavelength & rhythms. This time in a quiet, but deeply felt story about three sisters who invite their teenage half-sister to move in with them after meeting her at their estranged father’s funereal. The transition is a happy one, but cracks start showing up from various repressed resentments between the older sisters: romantic entanglements, career changes, possible loss of the family home. It’s as if their new half-sister were an inadvertent catalyst/agent of change. But it’s the nature of this film to calm the waters and have things work out; and a pleasant one to join in on, especially with such an attractive cast. (Sachi, the oldest sister played by Haruka Ayase, in particular.) Well-received (deservedly) and compared to the family-oriented dramas of Yasujirô Ozu (mistakenly), any story of four sisters (and cherry blossoms) can’t help but nod toward Kon Ichikawa’s fathoms deep & treasurable THE MAKIOKA SISTERS/’83, but this is very satisfying on its own terms.

DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: As mentioned above, MAKIOKA SISTERS, masterful filmmaking that’s a tough act to follow. So, maybe see SISTER first.  https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/07/sasame-yuki-makioka-sisters-11983.html

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