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

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

Comfort watching

Based on Akimi Yoshida's josei manga 'Umimachi Diary', 'Our Little Sister' is a women-centred, Japanese chick-flick.

Adult sisters Sachi (the serious one), Yoshino (the sexy partying one) and Chika (the comedy relief one), abandoned by their father when they were just small children, live in the large, old house turned over to them by their mother when she too abandoned them as teenagers. Although men feature in all their lives, it is to each other they are most loyal.

One day comes news that their estranged father has died, and the three sisters travel to attend his funeral. While there they meet their step-sister, thirteen year-old Suzu, product of the affair that led to their father's desertion. Suzu's own mother has also died, and on impulse the sisters invite her to live with them. The film then follows the quartet over the next several months of relationship troubles (Sachi), work troubles (Yoshino), boyfriend-wanting-to-climb-a-mountain troubles (Chika) and mixed-sex football (Suzu).

It's all very feel-good: Suzu, for example, exhibits none of the stroppiness one would usually associate with a teenaged girl, docilely doing what she's told by Sachi (who in real life would very much be the target of "You're not my mother!"-type teenage flounces) and easily making nice, well-behaved friends at her new school. Meanwhile, Sachi and her estranged mother reach an understanding, and even the death of a close friend is portrayed as life-affirming, with much talk of cherry blossom and beauty. And the soundtrack is always waiting, ever-ready, to pounce with surging strings at moments of great emotion (of which there are many).

But feel-good is not necessarily bad. If you want to watch a film that isn't in any way challenging, with engaging performances, signposted plot developments and a little humour - in short, a film to relax to - you could do worse than this.