ARUITEMO ARUITEMO
Japan 2008
DIR Hirokazu Kore-eda
SCR Hirokazu Kore-eda
CAST You, Hiroshi Abe, Yoshio Harada
A middle aged brother and sister gather with their own families for a visit to the seaside home of their elderly parents. The occasion is the annual commemoration of their older brother who died tragically in a drowning accident fifteen years earlier. During the course of a single summer day, Kore-eda (After Life, Nobody Knows) — one of the grand masters of contemporary world cinema, in the tradition of Ozu and Naruse — gently reveals the family fissures, the unresolved grievances, resentments, disappointments, and bouts of pettiness that have gnawed away over the years, especially for Ryota, the disenfranchised second son. It's a touching universal story, acutely observed, recognized in moments of enlightenment, even grace.
