Tonight's film was "Still Walking"(2008), directed by Hirokazu Kareeda, released on Criterion and discovered in the same library search that turned up "Meantime", which we saw and reviewed last night. Interestingly, there are parallels between the two movies. Like "Meantime", "Still Walking" is a slice-of-life family drama. Both films are based on observational insights rather than plot and both feature a strained father/son relationship. From there the similarities end, more or less, because the family in "Meantime" is British and boisterous while the family in "Walking" is Japanese and more sedate. Actually, they have the same gripes about one another that the "Meantime" family has, but they keep it more polite because they're Japanese. And they aren't as poverty stricken and ill-educated, which I suppose has more to do with it, because if the English family had been upper class, they'd have been polite about their resentments, too.
The story begins with Ryo (the son) and his family en route to visit his parents for an annual get together. Ryo is 40ish and semi-estranged from his folks. He just wants to get the visit overwith, not least because he knows his Mom and Dad won't approve of his new wife, a widow whose son Ryo has adopted and who is accompanying them on the trip.
When they arrive, Ryo's younger sister is already there with her husband and kids. She is more at ease with the parents because she knows no questions will be asked of her. So there we have another parallel to "Meantime" - if only slightly - where one sibling is favored over another, or at least that is the perception. The father is a doctor, 72 years old now and taciturn. He's near retirement because the big health corporation in Japan has put up a hospital nearby with modern facilities and a full compliment of physicians. He is bitter about his displacement, feeling no longer being needed, and subtly projects this onto Ryo by quizzing him on his own employment prospects (another "Meantime" similarity). Ryo has an unusual profession. He is a restoration artist, kind of like the painting equivalent to Criteron. He gets hired by museums and collectors to restore valuable works of art, sometimes even a Chagall. But he doesn't get paid much. He can't even afford a car. Dad doesn't call him out directly on his career choice, but his disapproval is apparent in other things he says, as when he tells Ryo's adopted son that he should become a doctor.
As noted, Ryo doesn't really want to be here at this family gathering, but he feels obligated because it's a tradition the family has observed for some years. I am debating whether or not to reveal the nature of the gathering, and I have decided not to, as it will add to your involvement in the story if you don't know it going in.
In reading some of the comments about "Still Walking", on Amazon and IMDB, I see that several viewers have compared Kareeda's story and directorial style to that of Yasujiro Ozu, the legendary Japanese filmmaker who specialised in family dramas. I disagree with these assessments. While Kareeda may have intended to emulate Ozu, if anything he's only come away with an "Ozu Lite", the difference being that there was always, always great tension present in Ozu's familial conflicts, created by the lack of self-expression, a communication barrier, brought about by Japanese cultural tradition. What's more, in Ozu's films, this tension and it's resultant retention by the protagonist, often the adult daughter of an older couple, would sometimes lead her to contemplate suicide. Ozu's great leading lady Setsuko Hara excelled in playing these daughters in various films, torn between acceding to her parents solemn demands and going her own way. She was such a great actress that you suffered along with her through her trials. This is not to say that the acting (and directing) in "Still Walking" isn't first rate, because it certainly it. It just isn't Ozu-ish, to coin a word. The characters in this movie are gonna do as they damn well please, tradition or no tradition. Of course, we are in a more modern Japan now, too, so that has something to do with it. At any rate, while "Still Walking" is quite good and very moving in places, it doesn't have the "grip" of a classic Ozu like "Late Spring", simply because of the lack of strong tension. There is conflict, but it never reaches a simmer let alone a boiling point.
Still, it was a very good film, if overlong, and I'm gonna give it Two Solid Thumbs Up and recommend you see it for it's overall watchability, which it shares (on a lesser scale) with the magnificent "Meantime". By the way, I have devised an Official Ratings System for my Thumbs. There will be five levels of positivity, the most basic being Two Thumbs Up which indicates a good movie. The next will be Two Solid Thumbs Up, which means a little better than just "good". After that you get Two Big Thumbs Up, which means it's really good and I recommend it, sometimes for a specified crowd (like horror fans, western fans, etc). Next would be Two Huge Thumbs Up, meaning the film in excellent in all respects and highly recommended. And finally, we have Two Gigantic Thumbs Up, which means an All Time Classic and a Must See, you will love it no matter the genre.
So there you go. I've been using these various levels of Thumbs for a while now, but I figured I oughta make 'em official. On the other end, regarding bad movies, we get so few of them because we make our own selections (meaning we bypass the Adam Sandler section, haha) and thus we rarely check out a rotten tomato, so we don't need a set of Thumbs Down variations I don't think. On the rare occasion when we do get a crummy one, I'll just tell you in so many words how bad it was and give it Two Thumbs Down, which will cover the gamut of crumminess.
I am now writing from home on Monday afternoon, my Pearl shift being over for the day. My album of the day yesterday was "To Our Children's Children's Children" by The Moody Blues, another one that I hadn't heard in quite a while. Man, it's a great album and I've gotta say - I think that Justin Hayward should be considered up there with the great musicians and writers of rock n' roll. I mean, he wrote "Nights In White Satin" when he was 21. And he's got so many more classic songs, including "Gypsy" off of "Children's Children". Go back and listen to what are known as the Core Seven, the seven classic Moodies albums made from 1967-74, and see if you don't agree.
I'm gonna head out in a little while, to O'Melveny or Santa Su, can't make up my mind. But for sure I will see you tonight at the Usual Time.
And for sure I send you Tons Of Love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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