Salt Lake Tribune Review
The long chains of family pull at the characters in this gentle drama by Japanese writer-director
Hirokazu Koreeda (“After Life,” “Nobody Knows”). Retired doctor Kyohei Yokoyama (
Yoshio Harada) and his wife Toshiko (Kirin Kiki) play host to their adult children -- flighty daughter Chinami (played by the single-named pop star You) with her husband and kids, and older son Ryota (
Hiroshi Abe), who arrives with his new wife Yukari (Yui Natsukawa), a widow with a young son (Shohei Tanaka). As the summer day plays out, over family meals and conversations, old tensions emerge: The father’s disappointment that Ryota didn’t take over his medical practice, Chinami’s oaf of a husband, and the still-deep scars from the accidental death 15 years earlier of the Yokoyamas’ oldest son. Koreeda lets events unfold smoothly and gracefully, turning the viewer into an interested observer of family members who don’t talk to each other but whose silences speak volumes.
- Sean P. Means
The rundown: A couple welcomes their adult children, but resentment and the memory of a dead sibling reverberate, in this gentle Japanese drama. Subtitled; 115 minutes. (SPM)
Synopsis: Ryota is the 40-year-old son of the Yokoyama family. He has recently married a widow with a ten-year-old son from her previous marriage, who are 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. The family has gathered to remember Junpei, the eldest son, who died in a terrible accident fifteen years earlier. Ryota, an art restorer, has never lived up to his brilliant brother, who was supposed to take over the family clinic, and he remains uncomfortable with his father. He arrives home, determined to hide the fact that he is currently unemployed. His older sister, Chinami, has already arrived with her family and is cheerfully entertaining the extended family. Toshiko, their deceptively mild-mannered mother, emits a string of sarcastic remarks as she bustles around the kitchen preparing the family's favorite foods. The scenes of the respective couples and family members alternately reminiscing and bickering around the food-laden table, will bring a family memory to everyone's mind.
