Synopsis
After making an inspired debet with the film adaptation of the cult visual novel Sharkskin Man and Peach Hip Girl, writer-director Katsuhito Ishii returns with a less agreessively styled drama of the unconventional Haruno family, living in an small mountain town outside Tokyo. As 6-year old Sachiko tries to escape her imaginary giant twin that pops up everywhere at the most inopporture times, her brother Hajime is on an amorous roller coaster ride with his classmate, their mother is working hard to complete her animation work and return to the field, and her professional hypnotist husband watches his family with apprehension. Meanwhile, the ridiculously self-centerd as well as eccentric grandfather constantly does mime movements talking gibberish. He once was a legendary animator but seems to be senile now. Uncle Ayano visits the town to secretly dispel the ghosts of a romance that ended years ago. Tadanobu Asano plays Ayano with a solid presence. The sequence with Asano and Tomoko Nakajima, who plays his ex-girlfriend, will linger in the minds of the audience for a long time. Amongst the classically picturesque tableau of cherry blossoms, green flieds and yellow sunflowers, the idiosyncratic storyteller Ishii delicately balances traditionalism and cutting edge live-action and animation, drama and comedy in his unique exploration of such universal themes as family, time and life. (Creta D. KIM)