Not crazy about the English title, but Mom, Is That You?! Is quite nice. It's Yoji Yamada's 90th film, and seems likely to be his last, given this guy is the Japanese Clint Eastwood and released this the year he turned 92. It's not one of his greatest films, but it's nice enough.
The film is a sentimental family drama that revolves around a few mildly dysfunctional family members. None are as boisterous or chaotic as Tora from the Tora-san movies, which makes for a nice contrast. It's less comedic than that long-running series, and ends with a level of peace that was heartwarming. I could see the ending seeming overly sentimental or iffy for some, but it kind of got to me. Knowing this will probably be Yamada's last might've had something to do with that, too.
It's conventional and kind of old-fashioned in its views on relationships and roles held by certain family members. Again, I cut it a little more slack than most movies because of how old the filmmaker is, but it's still something that crossed my mind. There are plenty of female characters, but they do always talk about men from their past and present. The actors mostly make it work, though. I feel like the more sub-plotty aspect of the movie, revolving around work culture, actually felt a bit more resonant, even if the stuff about love - both the familial and between two people kind - is unsurprisingly more likely to tug on the heartstrings.
It doesn't have anything particularly new or radical to say, and ends up being about perseverance and sticking by family, because they're ultimately the people who are least likely to give up on you. That simple message is well-delivered, and the film - though a little rickety and uneven at times - is heartfelt. It mostly worked for me, and wouldn't be a bad place for Yoji Yamada's immense body of work to end. The man's worked tirelessly directing one or two movies a year, on average, for about 60 years now... and like, none are bad (there are only five I haven't seen). I think his retirement would be well-earned at this point!
