[Favorites—2010s]

Unlike most viewers, I didn't fall in love Nakadai Tatsuya right away. He is someone I have warmed up to over the years. Perhaps I saw the wrong films initially, at least when it came to his performances/roles. Nakadai looked out of his depth against Takamine Hideko in When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960); couldn’t properly grasp the negative shades of his character in Black River (1957); seemed far too young, and thus awkward, in Harakiri (1962), where, at age 30, he played a grandpa and the father to a 21-year-old Iwashita Shima (the best performance in that film belongs to Mikuni Rentarô, one of the finest actors of his generation).

Yet, as many are aware, Nakadai is…

Questioning one’s value in relation to family, and how one should go about the business of 'being' when becoming a burden to one’s relations seems inevitable.

The relationship between Haru and Tadao sums up the love that ties me to my own family, quite accurately. I am not in contact with any relatives outside my immediate family, because through our own individual shortcomings and imperfections we were deemed unfit to be a part of the larger flock. So we few continue to stick together, gather a small group of trusted friends, and live tirelessly to support one another. A collection of strays who would otherwise be living alone, left to a dually selfless/selfish existence.

Nothing worse than feeling you are…

A solid and heartwarming Kobayashi. It's been a while since I watched one of his films, expectations were relatively low, but it turned out much better than I'd hoped. Which, if I'd been paying more attention, isn't really all that surprising, because I've liked almost all of Kobayashi's films so far.

The two main characters are truly golden. A grumpy grandfather (Tadao) and a submissive granddaughter (Haru) go on an improvised trip after Haru tells him she wants to go her own way in life. Finding a place for Tadao to stay proves harder than expected though, as the bonds with his direct family have soured over the years.

While the drama is quite overt and on the nose, the…

A solid and heartwarming Kobayashi. It's been a while since I watched one of his films, expectations were relatively low, but it turned out much better than I'd hoped. Which, if I'd been paying more attention, isn't really all that surprising, because I've liked almost all of Kobayashi's films so far.

The two main characters are truly golden. A grumpy grandfather (Tadao) and a submissive granddaughter (Haru) go on an improvised trip after Haru tells him she wants to go her own way in life. Finding a place for Tadao to stay proves harder than expected though, as the bonds with his direct family have soured over the years.

While the drama is quite overt and on the nose, the…

Starker Cast. Sehr schlechte Regie.
Ich hab den Film ewig vor mich hin geschoben, weil ich etwas Angst vorm anschauen hatte. Ich hab vermutet der wäre von einem ähnlichen Kaliber wie 'Kirschblüten und rote Bohnen', der mich komplett zerstört hat. Rotz und Wasser hab ich da geweint. Und das nicht zu knapp (gerade übrigens bei Amazon Prime verfügbar).
Haru's Reise hat zwar alles um einen ähnlichen Effekt bei mir auszulösen, aber Regisseur Kobayashi Masahiro will einfach viel zu gewollt auf die Tränendrüse drücken. 2 Stunden läuft hier traurige Musik in Endlosschleife. Am Ende gibt's hier eine Unterhaltung die beinahe nicht zu verstehen ist, wenn es keine Untertitel geben würde. Die traurige Musik zieht da immer mehr an und wird einfach…

[Favorites—2010s]

Unlike most viewers, I didn't fall in love Nakadai Tatsuya right away. He is someone I have warmed up to over the years. Perhaps I saw the wrong films initially, at least when it came to his performances/roles. Nakadai looked out of his depth against Takamine Hideko in When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960); couldn’t properly grasp the negative shades of his character in Black River (1957); seemed far too young, and thus awkward, in Harakiri (1962), where, at age 30, he played a grandpa and the father to a 21-year-old Iwashita Shima (the best performance in that film belongs to Mikuni Rentarô, one of the finest actors of his generation).

Yet, as many are aware, Nakadai is…

Questioning one’s value in relation to family, and how one should go about the business of 'being' when becoming a burden to one’s relations seems inevitable.

The relationship between Haru and Tadao sums up the love that ties me to my own family, quite accurately. I am not in contact with any relatives outside my immediate family, because through our own individual shortcomings and imperfections we were deemed unfit to be a part of the larger flock. So we few continue to stick together, gather a small group of trusted friends, and live tirelessly to support one another. A collection of strays who would otherwise be living alone, left to a dually selfless/selfish existence.

Nothing worse than feeling you are…