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

16 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Haruka Ayase	...	Sachi Kôda
Masami Nagasawa	...	Yoshino Kôda
Kaho	...	Chika Kôda
Suzu Hirose	...	Suzu Asano
Ryô Kase	...	Yoshimi Sakashita
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

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Koereda first read the manga series "Umi-machi Diary", he was immediately attracted to the story which dealt with family, death and child being abandoned and felt he was the right director to bring it to film. He contacted the author but found someone already had a right to the book. Couple years later he was informed the right to the book had been withdrawn and it was his if he was still interested.

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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

loved it !

This movie is 128 minutes long and at the end i was hoping it could go on for two more hours. For me it is the essence of what cinema should be. Great story real characters and real life ! Just a few days before i was watching SW7 and thought it was an OK movie but while watching "our little sister" i was realizing how much better cinema can be and how bad most Hollywood blockbusters really are. I know its like comparing a Michelin star cook to Mc Donald's but when you tasted both you realize one is art and one is fast food. One you eat because you're hungry (bored) and one because it tastes great. This movie is art because it touches you in a special way ... not you ego but your humanity.

Compared to Hirokazu Koreeda previous movie "like father like son" the story is very loose sometime you even think there is none. You also get tricked by the expectations other movies force you to have by repeating the same motives over and over again. I'm not sure if this is intentional or the movie is just so different.

Like most Japanese or Asian movies there is some stuff that could be a little bit to slapstick and melodramatic for western viewers but that's a very small price to pay.

If you don't count anime "our little sister" makes it in my top 5 Asian movies of all time. I highly recommend it.

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

Gross USA:

$531,996

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,918,101

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fuji IG Laboratory for Movies (FILM), Fuji Television Network, GAGA

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1