Otôto

In my review of Yoji Yamada's previous film, Kabei: Our Mother (2009), I observed that the film returned "to an era of Japanese film-making…of traditionalism and conservatism best exemplified by the films of Yasujiro Ozu." A scene in Yamada's latest picture, About Her Brother, further illustrates the Ozu influence. The scene shows a woman peeling off the skin of an apple in a circular motion with a small cutter.

This triggers my memory of the final scene in Ozu's Late Spring (1949) in which an old man uses a knife to slowly peel a circular layer off an apple skin, which then drops to the ground, signaling a chapter of life passed. In About Her Brother, it suggests the inevitability of death. Or perhaps to some, it may be read as "cause and effect".

About Her Brother is a story on family relationships, in particular the brother-sister bond. Sayuri Yoshinaga plays a widow who has a daughter who is about to marry a rich doctor. During her daughter's wedding, her heavily ostracized and unwanted brother (played by Tsurube Shofukutei) makes a drunken appearance, spoiling the grand occasion. The sister-brother bond is further strained in the course of the film, but the unconditional love of the sister for her brother becomes a huge factor in reconciliation.

About Her Brother continues the trend of impressive output by one of Japan's finest contemporary filmmakers. The film has a solid script, written with the astute knowledge of modern Japanese middle-class families. It also addresses social issues such as the plight of the poor, who live lonely lives at the fringes of an affluent society. However, in its core, the film asks of the question: Whose fault is it when a person is raised to be "a failure in life"? The family? The state? Or his/her own? Starting out as funny in a serious kind of way (as the brother ruins the wedding), the film progresses into a powerful melodrama crafted with skill under the hands of Yamada. The direction is honest, especially in the capturing of the cast's performances. Yamada goes into the heart of each character's emotional state, delicately coercing the actors to not dominate the screen but to allow their emotions to play off each other naturalistically.

While the final thirty minutes of About My Brother is heart-wrenching, the most effective tearjerking scene (in my opinion) comes when the mother and her daughter share an intimate moment of hope – the latter tells her mother that she wishes to remarry – a brief moment that interrupts their worrying thoughts about life in which they both gladly accept and pause to embrace.

About Her Brother is an excellent picture by Yamada. The performances by the cast alone are worth the ticket price. This is restrained melodrama that works without being sappy or overly self-conscious of its aim to tug at our heartstrings. Last year, we had Departures (2009), a Japanese tearjerker that competed and won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2008, and topped my list of Top Ten Films of 2009. This year, we have About Her Brother, which is nearly just as good.

SCORE: 9/10 (www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com) All rights reserved!

Saw this movie in flight on Cathy Pacific between Beijing and Hong Kong.

Yoshinaga Sayuri still looks amazingly good given her age. Yu Aoi is somewhat wasted in a supporting role. Most of the movie is about the relationship between Yoshinaga Sayuri's character and her life-long loser little brother. Although the start of the movie is sort of funny in a cringe inducing way, as the movie progresses the little bit of funniness disappears and it drags on and on in the misery. Perhaps the dedication of the all volunteer hospice shown in the movie is somehow supposed to be uplifting. Of course technical aspects of the movie are fine - well shot with elegant understated photography.

After enjoying "Kabe" immensely, I was really looking forward to seeing this movie. It did not disappoint. It had all the Yoji Yamada touches. The strong central characters with comic relief provided by the excellent supporting cast. The sense of changing seasons. The low angle Ozu-type end-of-scene shots. Most of all, the celebration of the lives of regular people and a heartfelt salute to those who quietly give their all, everyday. Like all Yamada movies, this movie is full of heart - you laugh, you cry. There are no special effects and no animation - just a lot of love. I will watch anything this guy writes or directs. I'm glad the Berlin Film Festival Board seems to feel the same way too.

This movie really isn't for everyone, I personally didn't enjoy it as much. But it does have it's target audiences that would enjoy this movie. There is usually a imbecile that is part of a family or a relative that cause trouble even a lot of trouble for the family members. And that is what this movie is about for the most part. Even watching that imbecile cause trouble after trouble for everyone that actually somewhat care about him, just made me angry throughout the whole thing. Which is fine, I have seen many films with a villain or a character that I really despised. But the thing about this movie is that, the imbecile in this doesn't seem to understand that he is a imbecile and causing trouble for others around him. I just can't understand the nerve of some people, especially how imbeciles like him would make other people clean up his mess continuously. I guess the movie sends out a message to imbeciles out there, like the character in this movie. I personally didn't get immersed in the scenarios, even though I understand Japanese culture and stuff. I gotta admit the main reason I watched this movie was because of Yu Aoi and she is still pretty as ever. Unfortunately she is just a supporting character in this.

3.5/10

If you don't really have a crush on Japanese culture, beware this movie has a lot of cultural references. Indeed 恩'd say it will entertain scholars but not everyone.

It's not about the conclusion of the story, is the realization of life itself. From many levels of symbolism one can see Tokyo vs Osaka culture, ancient vs contemporary, traditions vs innovation, 内々 (uchi-uchi) in the sense of community, 恩 (on) in the sense of obligation. Daily ethical Japanese if you like... The story is simple but many details arise and its not a matter of solving something in the classical model of occidental drama, enjoy from the beginning, every moment, but don't hope for a hard climax or an unexpected outcome.

If you are fond of Japanese perspectives, you will love it as 恩 did.