Our Little Sister (2015)

A story that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother's home and the arrival of their thirteen-year-old half sister.

Director:

Hirokazu Koreeda

Writers:

Akimi Yoshida (manga), Hirokazu Koreeda (screenplay)

Stars:

Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho

12 wins & 19 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Haruka Ayase	...	Sachi Kôda
Masami Nagasawa	...	Yoshino Kôda
Kaho	...	Chika Kôda
Suzu Hirose	...	Suzu Asano
Ryo Kase	...	Yoshimi Sakashita (as Ryô Kase)
Ryôhei Suzuki	...	Dr. Yasuyuki Inoue
Takafumi Ikeda	...	Sanzo Hamada
Kentarô Sakaguchi	...	Tomoaki Fujii
Ohshirô Maeda	...	Fûta Ozaki (as Ohshiroh Maeda)
Midoriko Kimura	...	Hideko Takano
Yûko Nakamura	...	Yôko Asano
Jun Fubuki	...	Sachiko Ninomiya
Kazuaki Shimizu	...	Toshio Iida
Kaoru Hirata
Shin'ichi Tsutsumi	...	Dr. Kazuya Shiina

Storyline

Three sisters live together in their late grandmother's house in the city of Kamakura. They have lived together since their dad left home for another woman and their mum imitated her husband by running off with another man. Sachi, 29, the oldest Koda sister, a nurse at the local hospital, acts as a substitute mother to Yoshino, 22, and Chika, 19. One day, the threesome learns of the death of their "traitor" father and it is only halfheartedly that they go to his funeral. But in Yamagata something unexpected happens: they meet their half-sister Suzu, 13, there and immediately fall for the spell of this exquisite young creature. Sensing that Yoko, her father's widow, will not be a fit guardian, Sachi invites Suzu to move in with them.

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Plot Keywords:

family relationships | slice of life | half sister half sister relationship | based on manga | four sisters | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

- Rated PG for thematic elements and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

13 June 2015 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Our Little Sister

Filming Locations:

Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$25,118, 10 July 2016, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$461,263, 6 November 2016

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company, GAGA, Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Koreeda felt the house was a central part of the story. After extensive search, they found the house in Kita Kamakura. They were just going to use only the gate and out side of the house. But when they saw front entrance, yard and rest of the house, Koreeda felt sets wouldn't reflect the reality and soul of the house. They asked the owner of the house for permission to use the entire house including everything in the house as they are. Only set they recreated was the kitchen when Sachi and Yoshino cooking noodles. The owner even gave them a permission to mark the wooden post Sachi marked Suzu's height.

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Goofs

When the four sisters are having their lunch with Chika's boyfriend at their house, in the interior shot looking outward, all the noodles on the main plate have been eaten.

In the next scene, an exterior scene looking inward to the house, Sachi reaches down and takes the plate away but Chika reaches up and takes several noodles off the plate with her chopsticks.

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Quotes

Sachi Kôda: I want you to stay forever.
Suzu Asano: I want to stay forever.

User Reviews

Wonderfully understated and brilliantly immersive

This is by no means a simple watch, but it's a hugely pleasant one. Our Little Sister is a perfect example of how a slow, calm and natural film can pull you in so much deeper than something big and loud, with fantastic performances, beautiful directing, brilliant dialogue and an emotionally impressive, but never melodramatic story.

The most striking thing about this film is the directing. It's all very understated, but the director is so brilliant at giving you staggeringly beautiful vistas of the countryside landscape of Japan. It never takes over what's happening in the story, but the way that the natural world is presented in this film is so special, and makes it an absolute joy to watch.

The performances are great too. Again, with a very quiet and understated story, the actors all do a fantastic job at providing interesting drama and engaging character development, which makes the slow pacing of this film feel almost invisible, as you're able to be pulled in so effectively by the very human, realistic performances, which was so impressive to see.

And that ability to create a realistic drama continues in the film's dialogue. The performances are all fantastic, but without the brilliantly-written dialogue, that feels so natural and real, this film may not have been as brilliantly engrossing as it is. Luckily, however, every line is so well-crafted, and fits so well with whatever's going on on screen, that you become totally immersed in this film as if you're right there taking part in these conversations.

This is effectively a 'slice of life' drama, where we're not getting an over-the-top, cinematic melodrama, but one that just peers into some people's lives, and makes a compelling story out of it.

That's true for a lot of the film, and I definitely enjoyed following the brilliant plot here, but if there is one complaint that I do have with Our Little Sister, it lies within the way the story is told. Understated films are fantastic, and shouldn't be overlooked, but in this film, I felt as if it was just a little too quiet in its opening stage to get you fully up to speed with what's going on.

Don't get me wrong, the calm nature of the film is beautiful for the most part, but for the first twenty minutes or so, I did feel a little lost with the characters' various backgrounds and relationships due to little early exposition, which made for an occasionally frustrating watch at the beginning.

Overall, however, Our Little Sister is a wonderful film, and it uses understated drama in a brilliantly realistic and immersive way, helped further by great performances and fantastic directing.