‘Our Little Sister’ Cannes Review: Nothing Much Happens, and That’s Beautiful
Kore-eda Hirokazu’s film, a new Sony Classics acquisition, is resolutely quiet, understated and lovely
Steve Pond | May 14, 2015 @ 10:51 AM
Last Updated: May 28, 2015 @ 9:11 AM
There’s an instructive moment late in Kore-eda Hirokazu’s “Our Little Sister” (“Umimachi Diary”), which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday on the heels of its acquisition by Sony Pictures Classics.
It’s a fireworks scene — a sequence in which all the main characters watch a pyrotechnic display in a small Japanese village. At first we see it from above, looking down on a boat as the explosions turn the sea red; then we see the faces of a group of teens who are watching from the boat. Finally Kore-eda cuts to a group of adults watching the same fireworks, and for the first time we actually see a few flashes of pyrotechnics — but in the background, framed by the characters who are far more important in the frame.
A fireworks scene largely without fireworks is a convenient metaphor for the film itself. Kore-eda, whose previous films include “Like Father, Like Son,” “After Life” and “Still Walking,” is not a filmmaker who goes for the big flash when the small moment will do. “Our Little Sister” is resolutely quiet and understated, made up of the little rituals of life: preparing meals, talking about food, skirting issues rather than making a big deal out of them.
If it works – and to a great degree, “Our Little Sister” does – it’s because there’s a world in Kore-eda’s quiet moments, and because the film is just plain lovely. The story, drawn from the Japanese manga serial “Tales From a Seaside Town,” deals with three sisters, long estranged from the father who left their mother for another woman, who suddenly discover that they have a 15-year-old half-sister from their father’s second marriage.
They find this out when wife No. 2 dies, and they impulsively offer to take their new sister into the home they share. At that point, nothing much happens, and life happens: The oldest sister is in a relationship with a married man, another goes through her own dating woes and they all have daddy issues, but the drama takes place under a placid surface, and Kore-eda lets things unfold with the utmost patience and care.
The director’s last film, “Like Father, Like Son,” was based on a somewhat gimmicky premise (albeit it one based on true events in which Japanese hospitals mistakenly sent couples home with the wrong newborn babies), which sometimes made its devotion to the small rituals of life feel forced. There’s nothing like that in “Our Little Sister,” which drew a sustained ovation from the audience at its Thursday afternoon premiere in the Grand Theatre Lumiere.
The film is sentimental, to be sure, and so deliberate that it could lose some viewers more accustomed to dramatic and literal fireworks. But for every moment that comes dangerously close to melodrama, several play the heartstrings so beautifully that only a real grump would complain.
“Our Little Sister” has the makings of a smart pickup for Sony Classics, which will be back in the Cannes spotlight on Friday with its new Woody Allen movie, “Irrational Man.” And it’s a nice sign that this year’s festival, after only one day, is strong and varied.
After all, this film screened in the same theater that had kicked off the day with “Mad Max: Fury Road,” and then shifted to the gothic strangeness of “Tale of Tales.” The fact that they were all in the same theater, and part of the same festival, is an odd and wonderful tribute to Cannes.
19 Cannes Movies On the Radar: Hot Titles, Must-See Picks (Photos)
"Carol," directed by Todd Haynes. Set in 1950s New York, a department store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman. With Cate Blanchett, Kyle Chandler and Rooney Mara.
Number 9 Films
"Chronic," directed by Michel Franco. The movie is about a home care nurse who works with terminally ill patients. With Tim Roth and Claire van der Boom.
Stromboli Films
"The Assassin," directed by Hou Hsiao-Hsien. The martial arts film is set during China's Tang Dynasty period.
Well Go USA Entertainment
"Macbeth," directed by Justin Kurzel. The movie, based on Shakespeare's play of the same name, stars Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard and Sean Harris.
See-Saw Films
"The Lobster," directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. In a dystopian near future, single people are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days or are transformed into animals and released into the woods. Starring Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell.
BFI Film Fund
"Youth," directed by Paolo Sorrentino. A retired orchestra conductor is on holiday with his daughter and her friend in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday. With Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano and Jane Fonda.
Indigo Film
"Louder than Bombs," directed Joachim Trier. While the plot remains undisclosed, the cast includes Jesse Eisenberg, Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, David Strathairn and Amy Ryan.
Motlys
"The Sea of Trees," directed by Gus Van Sant. A suicidal American befriends a Japanese man lost in a forest near Mt. Fuji and the two search for a way out. The cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Naomi Watts and Jordan Gavaris.
Bloom
"Sicario," directed by Denis Villeneuve. A young female FBI agent joins a secret CIA operation to take down a Mexican cartel boss, a job that ends up pushing her ethical and moral values to the limit. The movie stars Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro.
Black Label Media
"Son of Saul," directed by Laszlo Nemes. During the Holocaust a prisoner is forced to burn the corpses of his own people, but finds moral salvation upon trying to salvage from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son.
Laokoon Filmgroup
"La Tête Haute," directed by Emmanulle Bercot. A coming-of-age story, it features stars like Sara Forestier and Catherine Deneuve.
France 2 Cinema
"Irrational Man," directed by Woody Allen. The movie is about a tormented philosophy professor who finds a will to live when he commits an existential act. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone and Parker Posey.
Gravier Productions
"Love," directed by Gaspar Noe. The film is making waves in Cannes with its raunchy posters, touting a sensual 3D experience about "a boy and a girl and another girl." It stars Karl Glusman, Aomi Muyock and Klara Kristin.
Les Cinemas de la Zone
"A Tale of Love and Darkness," directed by Natalie Portman. Starring and making her directorial debut, Portman's story tells of Amos Oz, a writer, journalist and advocate of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Handsomecharlie Films
"Cemetery of Splendor," directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film is an Un Certain Regard title about a group of soldiers who suffer a mysterious sleep sickness in Thailand.
Kick the Machine
"Arabian Nights," directed by Miguel Gomes. Clocking in at six hours, the film is billed as an exploration of modern Portugal through fairytale tropes.
O Som e a Furia
“Green Room,” directed by Jeremy Saulnier. This American entry is a racially-charged crime thriller starring Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat and Patrick Stewart.
Broad Green Pictures
“Meditrranea,” directed by Jonas Carpignano. The film is a harrowing story of a Burkinabe man who sacrifices for a better life in Italy, only to be met with intolerance.
Audax Films
"Amy," directed by Asif Kapadia. Easily one of Cannes' buzziest titles, the documentary chronicles the life of troubled British soul singer Amy Winehouse.
Krishwerkz Entertainment
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Cannes 2015: From Gus Van Sant’s “Sea of Trees” starring Matthew McConaughey to Natalie Portman’s directorial debut, “A Tale of Love and Darkness”
"Carol," directed by Todd Haynes. Set in 1950s New York, a department store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman. With Cate Blanchett, Kyle Chandler and Rooney Mara.