28 December 2011

Tokyo Sonata (Japan, 2008)

In the suburbs of Tokyo, a man loses his job at a big company, and is faced with the harsh reality of unemployment. Meanwhile, his family is drifting further and further away from each other. 

Tokyo Sonata focuses on the everyday struggles and hardships of every member of a family falling apart, and we get to follow them on their own paths that leads further and further away from each other. Even though it's made by Kiyoshi Kurosawa (CurePulse), I can't help but seeing some of Hirokazu Kore-eda (Nobody Knows) in the seams, with the family focused narrative and ability to seriously portray the relationships that makes a home.

It also deals with shame culture in the Japanese society, which might come as a culture shock to some people but is actually a big part of their way of life. Tokyo Sonata touches on some of that, but mostly strives to tell a story about the fragile bonds between ourselves and them we care about.

Genre: Drama. 2h.

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