Still Walking (Sunday, September 6, 2009) (122)

This is a very lovely Japanese film about a one-day reunion for a traditional but dysfunctional family in a seaside town outside of Tokyo. The oldest living son, Ryo, is married to a widow who has a young son from her first marriage. His older, more traditional brother died several years ago, and now he is seen by his father as the next generation in the proud family medical practice. He doesn't want anything to do with his father's old-fashionedness or his parents' small-town lifestyle. His sister is married to a loving fool who drives the parents crazy with his simpleness and childishness.

This film is really about the meeting of opposites. The old father who would rather spend time alone in his office looking over old medical documents who comes in contact with his young, fast-moving grand children; the modern, city loving city-dwelling son who is spending time in a sleepy old-fashioned town; the tradition-loving family who has to function in a modern world and knows they don't like all the rules they follow, but follows them anyway. I would love to understand the title in the original Japanese - because I'm very interested in the oxymoron of stillness and walking. Is that just a great translation to create the double entendre or is that what the title was like before it was translated?

The style is very simple and beautiful. Almost all the shots are static with very few camera movements. As the film moves along, there are a scattering of moving shots that suggest a greater importance for the scene. Hirokazu Koreeda deserves credit for this subtle direction and elegant style.

The acting is also wonderful - especially the son and main character, Ryo, played by Hiroshi Abe and the father played brilliantly by Yoshio Harada. I wish I knew more about Japanese actors, but these two especially are fantastic.

This is a very nice and quiet movie and totally worth a viewing.

Stars: 3 of 4