Another lovely original film and script from Kore'eda with a wonderful cast.
Original? Yes. But linked to his own earlier 2011 script for "Kiseki" (I Wish). In "I wish" an almost or fully broken marriage of two young parents were was being tried to be patched up by a son who was directly affected by the break-up. Here in "After the Storm" a son is similarly affected by the almost final breakup of his parents marriage, but the torn marriage is being tried to be fixed for the sake of the child by the father. thus one film is the positive action from the point of view of a son, the other later film from that of a father for the sake of the son and his wife.
So many films of Kore'eda deal with broken marriages and kids with missing parents in their lives. The most heart-rending one was "Nobody Knows," the most complex one was "The Third Murder."
Kore-eda seems to be getting better as a scriptwriter and director in each film. The subtle references to Christianity surfaces here with references to Mother Teresa, only to be more prominent in "The Third Murder."
This Kore-eda film is considerably helped by his stock artists Hiroshi Abe ("Still Walking", "I Wish"), Yoko Maki ("Like Father, Like Son") and the lovely late Kirin Kaki ("Still Walking," "I Wish").
Was there a problem with the film? Of course, there was. Where was the storm/hurricane? The only scene of inclement weather was the rain in the night, when the parents of the boy stay together. Even the day after the storm, the exteriors of the apartment didn't seem to be affected by a hurricane/typhoon/cyclone. Even indoors, there is no evidence of a vicious storm raging outside during the night.
Original? Yes. But linked to his own earlier 2011 script for "Kiseki" (I Wish). In "I wish" an almost or fully broken marriage of two young parents were was being tried to be patched up by a son who was directly affected by the break-up. Here in "After the Storm" a son is similarly affected by the almost final breakup of his parents marriage, but the torn marriage is being tried to be fixed for the sake of the child by the father. thus one film is the positive action from the point of view of a son, the other later film from that of a father for the sake of the son and his wife.
So many films of Kore'eda deal with broken marriages and kids with missing parents in their lives. The most heart-rending one was "Nobody Knows," the most complex one was "The Third Murder."
Kore-eda seems to be getting better as a scriptwriter and director in each film. The subtle references to Christianity surfaces here with references to Mother Teresa, only to be more prominent in "The Third Murder."
This Kore-eda film is considerably helped by his stock artists Hiroshi Abe ("Still Walking", "I Wish"), Yoko Maki ("Like Father, Like Son") and the lovely late Kirin Kaki ("Still Walking," "I Wish").
Was there a problem with the film? Of course, there was. Where was the storm/hurricane? The only scene of inclement weather was the rain in the night, when the parents of the boy stay together. Even the day after the storm, the exteriors of the apartment didn't seem to be affected by a hurricane/typhoon/cyclone. Even indoors, there is no evidence of a vicious storm raging outside during the night.