Haha to kuraseba (2015)

Set in post-World War II Japan, midwife Nobuko is resolved to move on as she stands at the grave of her son Koji who died, alongside thousands of others, when the Americans dropped an ... See full summary »

Director:

Yôji Yamada

Writers:

Yôji Yamada (screenplay), Emiko Hiramatsu (screenplay)

Stars:

Sayuri Yoshinaga, Kazunari Ninomiya, Haru Kuroki

4 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Sayuri Yoshinaga	...	Nobuko Fukuhara
Kazunari Ninomiya	...	Koji Fukuhara
Haru Kuroki	...	Machiko Sata
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Tadanobu Asano	...	Kuroda
Isao Hashizume	...	Professor Kawakami
Yuriko Hirooka	...	Tomie
Miyu Honda	...	Tamiko
Ken'ichi Katô
Nenji Kobayashi	...	Employee of Demobilization Station
Christopher McCombs
Wade Reed	...	American Weapons Officer
Kazunaga Tsuji	...	Middle-Aged Man
Mikû Yamada	...	Sumire

Storyline

Set in post-World War II Japan, midwife Nobuko is resolved to move on as she stands at the grave of her son Koji who died, alongside thousands of others, when the Americans dropped an atomic bomb on the civilians in the southern city of Nagasaki. However, upon returning home she is visited by an apparition. which continues to return in order to commiserate and reminisce with the woman about the past, family, affection and war.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

12 December 2015 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Living with My Mother

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), GyaO, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min (original)

Color:

Color Black and White (prologue)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Japan for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 89th Academy Awards in 2017.

User Reviews

A movie about loss and human relationships

Koji dies when the atomic bomb falls on Nagasaki. He was a medical student, living with his mother, his father and brother already dead, and thinking about marriage with his girlfriend Machiko. His mother is left alone, trying to survive in the struggle after the end of the war.

"Living with My Mother" is a very touching, slow, introspective movie, typical or your late Yôji Yamada, with sparse use of camera work, long takes, and a focus on characters and their dialogues, instead of on action or fast changes of view points. The story centers on Nobuko, Koji's mother, after the end of the war, and how she tries to come to terms with what has happened in her life. Sayuri Yoshinaga does a great job of imbuing her character with life, making her feel close even if you know little of the history behind her story. Yamada does not center on pain or tears, but on the little things that make us human, and instead of telling us a story of the struggle to eat to live, he tells us the story of the struggle to understand, forgive and adapt to be able to live in an world that has changed completely.

It is a little bit slow, and some moments can be a little bit stretched, but the direction, the acting, the mood and the pace are great, and it is a movie that is worth seeing. It is a movie about humanity.