Still Walking

Composite Score: 87.23

Starring: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Tanaka, Hotaru Nomoto, Ryôga Hayashi, Susumu Terajima, Haruko Katô, Kirin Kiki, and Yoshio Harada

Director: Hirokazu Koreeda

Writer: Hirokazu Koreeda

Genres: Drama, Family

MPAA Rating: Not Rated

Box Office: $3.51 million worldwide

My take on Watching This Film:

                Still Walking is Hirokazu Koreeda’s film about an annual family gathering to commemorate the death of one of the sons twelve years previously. The film features Kirin Kiki and Yoshio Harada as Toshiko and Kyohei Yokoyama, the parents of Junpei, who drowned twelve years early as an adult while rescuing a boy from the water, along with Hiroshi Abe and Yui Natsukawa as Ryota and Yukari Yokoyama, their younger son and his new wife – a widow with a son, Atsushi (Shohei Tanaka) – and Kazuya Takahashi and You as Nobuo and Chinami Kataoka, Ryota’s brother-in-law and sister whose hectic life has them considering moving back in with Chinami’s parents (Toshiko and Kyohei) under the guise of caring for them in their old age. The film looks at family dynamics in one of the most realistic ways that I’ve ever seen in a film. It excellently captures the awkwardness of families dealing with grief, the expectations that parents put on their children, the complexities of relationships between parents and their children’s romantic partners, and even the ways that we show love to members of our family all in our own way. It’s a profound examination of the effects that death has on a family but also, more broadly, at the effects that a family has on each other. Of the five films from the writer/director that I’ve yet seen, I’ve yet to be disappointed in any of his works, but this one ranks either first or second because of how well he accomplishes the showing and not telling aspect of this film. Nowhere in the film are we given any explicit explanation of really anything that’s going on, besides a closing voiceover narration to set up the final scene that takes place a few years down the road, but by the end of the film, we fully understand everything that’s gone on and also the nature of the relationship dynamics in the family and the underlying roots of those intricacies. It’s a brilliant film that also happens to be well-acted and emotionally impactful because of how well it depicts the reality of family relationships, earning it a spot among the greats. If you are looking for a profound family drama that gets at the reality of life with family, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one better than Still Walking even if it is just an extended look at a family spending a day together. Currently, you can stream this film on the Criterion Channel if you’d like ot check it out for yourself.