is a 2010 film by
Yoji Yamada
is a Japanese film director best known for his ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series of films and his Samurai Trilogy (''The Twilight Samurai'', ''The Hidden Blade'' and '' Love and Honor'').
Biography
He was born in Osaka, but due to his father's job ...
. The first screening of this film outside
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
was at the closing ceremony of the
60th Berlin Film Festival
The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2010, with Werner Herzog as President of the Jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama '' Apart Together'', in com ...
in 2010.
Plot
The story unfolds as the young Koharu (
Yū Aoi
is a Japanese actress and model. She made her film debut as Shiori Tsuda in Shunji Iwai's 2001 film ''All About Lily Chou-Chou''. She subsequently portrayed Tetsuko Arisugawa in ''Hana and Alice'' (2004), also directed by Iwai, Kimiko Tanigawa in ...
), the daughter of a pharmacist in a modest neighborhood of Tokyo, is about to marry the son of a prestigious family, and even before the event everybody is anxious that Tetsuro (
Tsurube Shofukutei), the younger brother of Koharu's mother, Ginko (
Sayuri Yoshinaga
is a Japanese actress and activist. She has won four Japan Academy Best Actress awards, more than any other actress, and has been called "one of the foremost stars in the postwar world of film."
Career
Her first media appearance was in the radi ...
), might join the wedding ceremony, as he is considered to be the black sheep of the family and even Ginko and Koharu consider him to be an embarrassment, even though he has lived with the family for quite some time after the death of Koharu's father.
As the invitations to the wedding had been returned to the sender, everybody is relieved that Tetsuro will not show up, as he has embarrassed the family in the past with his childish behavior and his drunkenness.
But during the party after the ceremony he turns up anyway in a loaned
kimono
The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...
and even after Ginko warns him, he starts drinking heavily and causes a ruckus, which is unsettling the groom's family. During the event he reveals his special relationship to Koharu: Her father asked him to name her, something he is still particularly proud of as every other endeavor in his life failed miserably.
After the event the family is forced to apologize formally to the groom's family and the oldest brother of Ginko and Tetsuro severs all ties with his younger brother. After staying with Ginko for a short time, she lends him money to go back to
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
where he came from in the first place.
Her uncle's behavior casts a shadow over Koharu's marriage and soon she has got to move in with her mother again. Even Ginko's patience with her brother comes to an end when she is forced to reimburse a lover of his who had entrusted him with her savings which he has gambled away. Now even Ginko severs her ties with Tetsuro and does not want to hear from him anymore: When he visits her next time, Ginko and Koharu throw him out.
Some time passes while Koharu struggles with her ultimate divorce and tries to get her life back together and starts a new relationship with a shy carpenter from the neighborhood.
Finally Ginko- who has secretly filled a missing person report- gets the news that Tetsuro has been hospitalized in Osaka. Despite his misbehavior, she is deeply worried and visits him in Osaka, learning that he is terminally ill with
lung cancer
Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissue (biology), tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from tran ...
and living in a
hospice
Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...
. Despite his illness, Tetsuro has neither lost his sense of humor, nor his childish character and Ginko is moved to see him being merry among the other patients and the staff of the hospice who have learned to enjoy his character.
Tetsuro predicts his own day of death, telling Ginko that the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism.
According to Buddhist tradition, he was ...
told him in a dream.
When the day draws closer, Ginko gets the news that Tetsuro's health is deteriorating. She hurries to Osaka and finds him being as cheerful as ever, even tricking her into giving him a drink through his feeding tube. When his death gets closer, Koharu arrives as well and finally forgives her uncle on his deathbed.
Some time later, Koharu makes preparations for her upcoming wedding with the shy carpenter. Around the dinner table Ginko's
senile
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a Syndrome, set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negativ ...
mother-in-law suggests inviting Tetsuro and Koharu and Ginko agree, moved to tears by their memories.
Cast
*
Sayuri Yoshinaga
is a Japanese actress and activist. She has won four Japan Academy Best Actress awards, more than any other actress, and has been called "one of the foremost stars in the postwar world of film."
Career
Her first media appearance was in the radi ...
– Ginko
*
Tsurube Shofukutei – Tetsuro
*
Yū Aoi
is a Japanese actress and model. She made her film debut as Shiori Tsuda in Shunji Iwai's 2001 film ''All About Lily Chou-Chou''. She subsequently portrayed Tetsuko Arisugawa in ''Hana and Alice'' (2004), also directed by Iwai, Kimiko Tanigawa in ...
– Koharu
*
Ryō Kase
is a Japanese actor.
Early life
Kase was born in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture. He moved to Bellevue, Washington in the United States soon after his birth, due to his father's job being transferred.
He's father Yutaka Kase was former chairman a ...
– Akira
*
Haruko Kato
was a Japanese actress.
Biography
Haruko Kato was born in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, on 24 November 1922. After training at acting school, she was signed up with the film production company Toho in 1939, debuting in ' in the same year.
She marri ...
*
Takashi Sasano
is a Japanese actor.
Career
Sasano has appeared in Kiyoshi Kurosawa's films ''Bright Future (film), Bright Future'' (2003) and ''Before We Vanish'' (2017). He also appeared in Amir Naderi's 2011 film ''Cut (2011 film), Cut''.
Filmography
Film
...
Background
Kon Ichikawa
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary ''Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...
had made a film of the same name, ''
Otōto'', based on a novel by
Aya Koda, in 1960, which won a Special Distinction Award at the
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
the following year.
Film festivals
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ototo
Films directed by Yoji Yamada
2010s Japanese-language films
2010 films
Japanese films
Films with screenplays by Yôji Yamada