oloanharahap I never knew who was Hirokazu Koreeda before but after this film i salute him. The direction, the acting, and the unique feeling "Still Walking" give just amazing. Don't expect dramatic scene in this film. It's a meditation about life. The acting from Kiki Kirin just unbelievable, stunning, and very very natural. The film just a daily life experience yet it's touching like no other films does. Still Walking feels very close to a detail of family reunion and very touching. Authentic experience of family drama. What a great cinema experience. I will never forget this film in my life. 9 out 10.

ivotkac Slowly evolving family drama with the plot built around the visit of adult son and daughter with their families on the anniversary of the death of the older son. It is the first movie from the director and writer Hirokazu Koreeda that I have seen and I felt immediately in love with his style of telling the story. Formally focusing on everyday activities during the visit - preparing the food, walking, taking the bath - "family truths" and biases of parents towards children and vice versa are revealed. Focusing on common activities the movie provides its apparent simplicity, but each time when the viewer starts to be almost bored by its naturalism, he is surprised by some revelation of family relationships. In these small details the family relationships are becoming complex like the life itself. For me, as a person with an European cultural background, it was also very interesting to see how this family story that includes problems between parents and children characteristic for every culture, looks in the context of Japanese Shintoist and Budhist traditions. That is what I expect from a good movie: to touch topics common for the all human race and to show it in the context of specific cultures.

bandw The story is simple. It begins with Ryota, his wife Yukari and her young son on the bus on their way to visit Ryota's parents. Excluding what is essentially an epilogue, it ends a day later as the family is on a bus on their way back home. In the interim we come to know this family in a way that would be difficult for a lengthy novel to accomplish.The occasion for the visit is to honor the memory of Ryota's brother Junpei who died by drowning some fifteen years earlier in his saving another's life. As Ryota's family arrives his sister and her husband and two young kids are already at the house. Through the personal interactions we learn so much about the family that we feel that we can easily extrapolate the entire histories of all the characters. Long standing conflicts are exposed by way of a casual remark, facial expression, or the occasional disagreement; voices are never raised. The fact that Yukari was widowed before her marriage and that Ryota's parents cannot accept her son from her previous marriage as being a real member of the family are sore spots.The chaos attendant to such a family gathering is perfectly captured. But the structure of the film, being a bit like a stage play, cuts through the chaos by focusing on conversations between two or three characters at a time. Paradoxically, in spite of the background tensions, I found the film to have a certain quite dignity to it. This was fostered in part by having the camera occasionally focus on externals like the wind caressing the trees and grasses, the sun shining through the clouds, or a flower in a vase. These scenes offer a pause, kind of like clearing the palate in a wine tasting.I thought the actors, none of whom I had ever seen before, were all quite good. I particularly liked the young kid who played Yukari's son--he was quiet and well behaved, but you could see that he was taking everything in. The scene that has him looking up at the stars and talking to his dead father was particularly moving. The camera work and scene compositions show artistry and care.You could tell that this story was heartfelt and, if there were any doubt, there would be none if you watch the interview with the director on the DVD extras.A nicely done and completely believable film.

sitenoise I liked Air Doll so much I decided to seek out more films made by its director Hirokazu Kore'eda. Imagine you have a new friend in life, someone you have a fondness and respect for, and they invite you along to meet the family of one of their best friends. You'll probably attend with an optimistic attitude, thinking the old adage "friends of yours are friends of mine." Such was my approach to seeing this film.There is a rich tradition of the family drama in Japanese cinema and this is a worthy addition to it. Still Walking observes and reveals the humor, history, and hidden emotions of an extended family over the course of twenty-four hours. A brother and sister, their spouses and children, attend a yearly gathering at the home of their parents to commemorate the death of their older brother, the pride of the parents, who died accidentally fifteen years ago while attempting to save a young boy, a stranger, from drowning.The film has a languid pace and a subtle sense of humor. There is a stereotypical grouchy and reserved father who has a stereotypically antagonistic relationship with his second son, a doting and good-humored mother, a loving and amiable sister. It seems like there may not be anything new here. There really isn't, and not much happens until another annual guest to the gathering shows up. He is the boy the older brother saved from drowning. He's an overweight, fidgety, perspiring loser. He is extremely uncomfortable and we can sense the parent's resentment that it was not him who died instead of their son.There was something about Air Doll that bothered me. There is a scene where the Air Doll meets, literally, her maker. The man basically essays to her on the meaning of the film: aren't human beings just empty vessels too, desiring and needing to be filled up? I've come to think that Kore'eda didn't trust his audience, or perhaps himself, enough to let the film speak for itself. He felt the need to explain it. There is a similar scene in Still Walking. After the ill-at-ease boy leaves the family's home the son observes to his mother that it seems almost cruel to invite him as he seems so uncomfortable, almost tortured by it. The mother acknowledges this and says "That's why we invite him." The scene should have cut right there but Kore'eda has the mother discourse on the necessity of this sadism.Even with that flaw, and the fact that Still Walking doesn't present an original scenario, I still loved it. I enjoyed meeting this family. Kore'eda and the cast bring a freshness to the family drama staple of Japanese cinema. The photography is beautiful, the direction is fluid and accomplished, the performances superb, and there is a surprisingly good amount of subtle humor throughout the film. Highly recommended to those who enjoy the slow-paced and thoughtful.