Haruka Ayase Masami Nagasawa Kaho Suzu Hirose
I love the sheer humanness of this Japanese film with deliberate exposition and
minimal music, which highlights the visual beauty on the screen and eloquent
mindfulness of the dialog. Writer
of the screenplay and director Hirokazu Koreeda has adapted Akimi Yoshida’s
diary into a “moviescape” [I don’t know how else to put it] in which daily
living among sisters is put into focus.
Our Little Sister is a simple
story in a way, about the daily lives of three sisters living alone in a big
house, but told with all the depth and complexity that human lives entail. The
sisters’ mother moved out when their father had an affair and moved to another
town, and neither had much contact with their daughters for years. When they hear of their father’s death
years later, the sisters decide to go to the funeral where they meet a
half-sister they had not known about. It says something predictable and genuine
about Suzu (Hirose) when she meets them at the railroad station and expresses
her gratitude for their attendance.
They are duly impressed.
Another complexity is introduced when the
father’s third wife, Suzu’s stepmother, is introduced, but is so broken up, she
is unable to address the people attending. That responsibility then falls to the oldest sister Sachi
(Ayase), who is used to it; she had taken over their mother’s role with the two
younger sisters, Yochino (Nagasawa) and Koda (Kaho) when their parents moved
away. The sisters are so entranced
with Suzu and she is so appealing, they end up inviting her to come and live
with them, since it’s obvious she is not close to her stepmother. This is against the advice of the great
aunt and others.
Unfolding from this beginning is a detailed description
of the sisters’ personalities, their relationships with others in the family
and their friends, and their individual challenges and struggles at home,
school, and work. By the end, we
feel we know this family very well.
The exposition is so natural, reflecting their dreams, conflicts, and
dilemmas in such a quiet way, it seems to be reflecting the lushness and beauty
of the landscape surrounding them.
The dialog is sprinkled with little gems such as “I’m jealous of your
parents; they left a treasure like you behind on this earth”, and “Beauty still
looked beautiful to her” (as she was dying).
Our
Little Sister was appreciated in Cannes for its quality by being nominated
for the Palm d'or. Although
probably unfamiliar to American audiences, the main actors are obviously
skilled and deliver fine performances, showing ways they are individuals as
well as sisters, and the townspeople shown—many of whom are children—come
across as realistically natural and appealing. The story has depth in that a number of conflicts arise that
put the characters in dilemmas they have to resolve.
A thoughtful, beautiful story about
sisters.
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