Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo - 2008)

This charming Japanese family drama has universal appeal. Taking place over 24 summer hours, it centers on a grown son, Ryo, who brings his wife and stepson to his parents' house to observe the anniversary of his brother's death with them and his sister and her family. No one is completely honest, just like families the world over. 

The sister (played by an actress named YOU, written in English in the credits) has a distinctive childlike voice that I recognized from another wonderful movie, Nobody Knows (Dare mo shiranai - 2004), where she played a young mother who leaves her 12 year old son to fend for himself and his three half siblings in a tiny Tokyo apartment (it sounds depressing but it's not), which, it turns out, was also written and directed (and edited) by the same man as this one, Hirokazu Koreeda (also known as Kore-eda Hirokazu). 

The acting in this one is subtle and to the point, from the kids up to their grandparents. Lots of delicious-looking food is prepared and eaten, but not enough to qualify it as one of my food movies. I really want to try some corn tempura next August! Tall handsome Hiroshi Abe, a former model, plays the brooding Ryo, and Kirin Kiki, who has a long resumé, is wonderful as his no-nonsense mother. His father (played by Yoshio Harada, who has an even longer resumé) is the one who is still walking, up and down the steps with his cane. Or perhaps the surviving family members are all still walking.

From the reading I've done this evening it looks like Kore-eda may be one of the greatest living Japanese filmmakers. If that isn't reason enough to see it, see it for the quiet humor and the peaceful seaside setting of Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan, about 50 miles south of Tokyo on Tokyo Bay.