Hirokazu Koreeda's Our Little Sister is a pristinely photographed, kindly-spirited family drama that unfortunately comes off as a rather dull achievement, due at least in some part to the episodic narrative structure of the book in which it was based. The film's emotional core feels somewhat muted at times, and while I'd argue Our Little Sister doesn't have anything particularly new to say about family, The film does still feature Koreeda's directorial elegance, which does display some quietly resonant moments centered around growing up, life, death, and family. Quietly dramatic, the story is centered around three sisters, Sachi, Yoshino, and Chika, whom live together in their late grandmother's house in the city of Kamaruka. Since the departure of their father, who left home to be with another woman, the three sisters have lived alone in this house, taking care of each other and providing for one and other. One day, the three sisters learn of the death of their father, halfheartedly going to attend the funeral of the man whom they view as a traitor. While at the funeral, they meet their shy, half-sister Suzu, and immediately form a bond with the recently orphaned 13-year-old girl. Sachi, the surrogate mother of this group of three sisters, recognizes that her father's widow simply isn't equipped to raise young Suzu, inviting the young girl to come live among them in Kamaruka. Our Little Sister works far more than it doesn't due to strong characterizations, with each sister bringing their own baggage, character traits, and insecurities to the table. The film captures family well in that regard, showing how while these sisters may not see eye to eye on lifestyle choices, family decisions, or general personality traits, they are family, they have each others back, regardless of these vapid differences. Our Little Sister is a film that taps into the core of what family means, offering up a subtle examination of a young woman in Suzu who feels saddled by her parents' baggage. Suzu is a character who essentially was the one tasked with taking care of her father on her deathbed, and now living with her three older half sisters, there is a quiet sense of doubt and guilt which envelopes this character, a young girl who unjustly feels responsible for Sachi, Yoshino, and Chika''s father leaving them. Of course this isn't true, but Koreeda uses this ideal to explore the important aspects of love and forgiveness when it comes to family, as young Suzu essentially becomes a symbolic representation of the three older sister's connection with their deceased father. Through the maternal and sibling relationships that develop between these four sisters, Sachi, Youshino, and Chika are able to form a new connection with their father through their young half-sister, Suzu, coming to terms with the abandonment and turning it into an act of love. For Suzu, the relationship she forms between her siblings relieves some of her feelings of guilt and burden, letting her be exactly what she is, a a young girl who shouldn't have to have so much responsibility. In the end, Our Little Sister is tender and full of elegance but it just feels slight, which to be fair, may be more a biproduct of Koreeda's impressive film canon than a negative statement about the film itself.
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AuthorLove of all things cinema brought me here. Archives
June 2023
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