7 June 2014

Like Father, Like Son (Japan, 2013)

The life of go-getting workaholic architect Ryotaone, of comfort and quietly ordered affluence with his wife Midori and son Keita, is violently overturned when hospital administrators reveal the unthinkable: Keita is not his biological son. Due to a mistake made by a negligent nurse, his "true" son has been raised in the dishevelled but warm-hearted home of working-class shopkeeper Yudai and his wife.

Finally one of my favorite Japanese directors, Hirokazu Koreeda, is back with another film. His work includes Nobody Knows (2004) and Still Walking (2008), among others. One thing that can be said of his films is that he always uses really good child actors, and that is once again true for Like Father, Like Son. That's fortunate because the plot is highly focused on two boys who are told they're in the wrong family. Koreeda is a very calm director, lots of static shots and when he moves the camera it's often very gentle and carefully done. Definitely one of the best drama movies of 2013, it's moving and features outstanding performances.


Genre: Drama

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