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Still Walking [Blu-ray] [Criterion Collection]

1 disc
Region 1 USA/CA (info)

Director Hirokazu Kore-eda writes and directs this family drama that unfolds over the course of a single summer day as the Yokoyama family gathers for a rare reunion held to commemorate the death of the one who was taken before his time. It was 15 years ago that eldest Yokoyama son, Junpei, drowned in a tragic accident, and the only changes around the family home since that fateful day are so subtle that they're not likely to be noticed by anyone outside of the immediate family. Retired family patriarch Kyohei (Yoshio Harada) used to run a successful medical clinic out of the home, though the lights in his medical examining room haven't even been turned on in years. The tiles in the kitchen where energetic Toshiko (Kirin Kiki) cooks family meals are slowly coming loose, and as youngest son Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) arrives home, he does his best to hide the fact that he's currently unemployed. His older sister, Chinami (You), has also arrived with her family, and does her best to entertain everyone despite the undeniable cloud of melancholy hanging over the home. As the festive gathering commences and Toshiko lays out a lavish meal, it gradually becomes obvious that resentment and sorrow bonds this family as powerfully as love.
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Credits

Hiroshi Abe, Yoshio Harada, Yui Natsukawa, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Tanaka, Hotaru Nomoto
Critic Reviews

"[The director has] a deceptively simple touch. In STILL WALKING, the story builds through an accretion of details, in shared glances, gestures and conversation."
New York Times
"STILL WALKING transpires with unhurried ease, but multiple viewings reveal the sophistication of its almost imperceptible style. The movie seems like a perfect found object..." -- Grade: A
A.V. Club
"A very quiet drama of family turmoiol....A film of droll adn dry observational precision..." -- Grade: B-
Entertainment Weekly
"This small gem of a movie always feels true and real as it gently reveals the quiet moments that define our lives."
Los Angeles Times
Included in Chicago Sun-Times's "The Best Foreign Films Of 2009" -- "Written and directed by the great Hirokazu Kore-eda, in some ways the heir to Ozu."
Chicago Sun-Times
4 stars out of 5 -- "[Koreeda] essays a moving restraint that evokes Ozu's vintage domestic dramas -- no mean feat."
Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "Brilliantly reworking Yasujiro Ozu's TOKYO STORY, this is a scathing story....Discretely photographed by Yutaka Yamazaki and complemented by Gontiti's charming guitar score..."
Empire