Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sometimes you just need a good story...


Kabei: Our Mother
2008, 133 minutes
Japanese, English Subtitles
10 Stars out of 5)


Based on Teruyo Nogami's autobiography, this film focuses on her childhood years in 1940s Tokyo. Her father, Professor Nogami is jailed on suspicion of being a Communist, leaving his wife and two young daughters to fend for themselves. Directed by Yoji Yamada (Twilight Samurai, the Hidden Blade) this quiet drama focuses on life as it existed before and during WWII. Although a tearjerker, Rainy Day never felt the story contrived; instead, she saw a great deal of beauty in the human situation, replete with honest laughter to balance the honest tears. The music is gorgeous, and fits the story. Yoji Yamada is rapidly becoming one of Rainy Day's most favorite directors. Teruyo Nogami is not without credentials on her own having spent 50 years with Akira Kurosawa.

Click here for trailer.  

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