Director: Hirokazu Koreeda, Main Cast: Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono, Yôko Maki, Rirî Furankî
Family drama in modern Japan: Ryota and Midori, a well-to-do couple, discovers after six years that their son has been swapped at birth with someone else’s. We follow the slowly unfolding of events from the first meeting with the other couple, who owns a small hardware store, to spending time with the other child and getting to know him and his family. It is interesting to see the very different interaction of the fathers with their sons and between the families, the viewer can appreciate cultural nuances and rich subtext due to the dissimilar social background. The film focuses in particular on Ryota, who is rather distant and strict as a father, more worried about making his sweet, mellow son stronger and independent, to prepare him for the future, than to actually spend time with him. When he finds out that his child is not biologically related to him, he starts to question everything about his son and to yearn for one more like him. It is a journey of introspection for Ryota, he struggles with his own daddy issues and tries to decide what is the best way to resolve the situation. The good performances of all the cast and the sure hand at the helm make the film absorbing and touching. —8/10
Ramblings of a cinephile 