Haunting is the only way to explain this methodically paced picture. This film from Japan looks into the lives of four abandoned children. The film begins with their mother (You) moving them into a new apartment by smuggling three of the children in under the noses of the landlord.
Akira (Yuya Yagira) is eldest and the designated caretaker of the children when their mother disappears. Next in line is the sad Kyoko (Ayu Kitaura), who dreams of one day buying a real piano. Following them is silly and mischievous Shigeru (Hiei Kimura) and the adorable 5-year-old Yuki (Momoko Shimizu).
The best part about the film is that the mother isn’t painted out like an arch-villain like a character Shelley Winters would have played in the 1960s. She’s not evil; she’s just very, very selfish. She keeps the kids from attending school and then leaves them for long stretches of time to fend for themselves. One time she leaves for over a month and then comes back with presents like it was no big deal.
The film has a slow build to it, starting with a fairly happy family unit and descends into the kids hustling for food and bathing in the park, ultimately ending in tragedy. The film takes its time developing its story and doesn’t provide huge signposts to a new plot point, instead it organically moves along. An interesting schoolgirl named Saki (Hanae Kan) comes into the film at about the mid-point and shows how sadness isn’t solely a providence of skid row.
How the kids react to their mother’s apparent abandonment is fascinating and varied. Akira has the central arch in the film and how he changes is scary and truthful. Director/writer Hirokazu Koreeda (MABOROSI) plays the material straight as a slice of life without going for the heartstrings with pumped up melodrama or manipulative music. The film has a quiet sadness, producing a resigned malaise, which is how the film portrays the children. The heartbreaking ending is so tragic, but seems like an inevitability. It’s frightening to think about what it must be like to be in the shoes of these characters, but its more frightening to think of the millions of real children who live similar existences.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
