Twelve years after their beloved eldest son, Junpei, drowned while saving a stranger's life, Kyohei and Toshiko welcome their surviving children home for a family reunion. Younger son Ryota still feels that his parents resent that he isn't the one who died; his new wife, Yukari, is awkwardly meeting the rest of the family for the first time. Daughter Chinami strains to fill the uncomfortable pauses with forced cheer.
This masterful family drama by Japanese writer- director Hirokazu Kore-eda commences on a deceptively tranquil note, lightly spiced with a needling humor.
– Michael Upchurch,
Seattle Times,
8 Oct 2009
fresh:
Still Walking is a miniaturist's masterpiece, the ebb and flow of familial love distilled to its essence.
– Joe Williams,
St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
14 Oct 2009
fresh:
Still Walking strikes an extraordinary balance between the moment-to-moment pleasure of life and the inevitable regret that accompanies time's passing.
– Colin Covert,
Minneapolis Star Tribune,
15 Oct 2009
fresh:
Koreeda's almost sage-like understanding of what makes modern families tick places him and this wonderful film in the league of Japan's grand master, Ozu, and you can't ask for higher praise than that.