The latest creation from Japanese director Hirokazu Koreeda, Our Little Sister begins with a narrative premise that, in the hands of another filmmaker, might have been a catalyst for screeching melodrama and messy tragedy.
Three young adult sisters—Sachi (Aruka Ayase), Yoshino (Masami Nagasawa), and Chika (Kaho)—dwell together in their grandmother’s handsome old house in a seaside town. Their estranged father has recently died, and his funeral brings them together for the first time with their adolescent half-sister, Suzu (Suzu Hirose). Left with her father’s stand-offish widow, who is not Suzu’s mother, the girl faces a lonely future. That is, until Sachi, perhaps a bit too impulsively, extends an offer for Suzu to come live with her and her sisters. Guarded but grateful, Suzu accepts and thus begins a yearlong steep in the marvelous particulars of an unusual but loving mixed household.
Koreeda (Nobody Knows, Still Walking, I Wish) is a master of exquisitely observed social realism, and Our Little Sister is no exception. The film’s setup is less volatile than the swapped-at-birth conceit that propelled his previous feature, the outstanding Like Father, Like Son. But Koreeda is not an artist who has much use for soapy interpersonal eruptions. Adapted from the celebrated manga Umimachi Diary by Akimi Yoshidais, the screenplay is absorbed with the everyday details and subtle emotional contours of the situation, as the four siblings adjust to their new living arrangement. The film is fearless about illustrating their fears and flaws, but always with a humane generosity that fortifies the observation that they are decent, devoted people at heart. It’s the kind of film-making that restores one’s faith in humanity and the potential of cinema: It's impeccably performed, superbly shot, and stitched with endless, magnificent detail, both physical and psychological.
Our Little Sister opens Friday, September 16 at the Landmark Plaza Frontenac Cinema.
