Kazoku wa tsuraiyo 2

"Kazoku wa tsuraiyo 2" continues the adventures of the Hirata family, with a little and charming movie that ends up being more than it seems at first sight.

The movie continues with its low key approach to its subjects: we see the everyday life of the Hirata family and how things have changed since the end of the first movie. The MacGuffin of the story is the 'patriarch' 's stubbornness and denial in recognizing the need for him to stop driving. This too common situation gives Yôji Yamada all he needs to develop the story, a plot that, as the first, revolves around family, its tensions, the changes that are happening in Japanese society (family relations, elder care, job relations...), with some light touches of humor and also some serious moments. The pace is still quite slow, and it drags for moments, but the approach is spot on, and the the movie's mood and situations will delight the viewer, in particular for anyone interested in everyday's life and human relationships.

My interest in the movie was mainly to explore Japanese humor, so I approached this film with curiosity and an open mind. But I have to say, it was a complete dissapointment. It seems to me it was an attempt to make a sort of U.S. family sitcom, with supposedly funny situations all over, a la Japanese. Not funny, too explicit, too one-dimensional. I have a great respect for the Japanese culture, this is certainly not a high point of it.

Watched this movie on the plane ride back from Japan. It simply amazed me, i laughed and i cried. Its just something so different than what we in the west are used to, it has its own wonderful charm. I dont know much about family life in Japan, but that a lot how i imagine it. Though id consider the movie as a comedy it has some serious topics to it and makes you think about family and its value. Cant wait to see the third movie in the future. Hopefully i can watch it somewhere, its hard enough to find these movies back in europe. I watched the first one today with a friend and it also was really good.