25/14
Synopsis
Tatsuo and his daughter Haru run the Takano Tofu Store in Onomichi
When Tatsuo discovers that he is ill, he fears that his daughter will be left alone, and unknowingly sets out to find a match for Haru. While the plot could (and has) filled the mold of many a family drama, veteran Tatsuya Fuji’s (Realm of the Senses) magnetically…
Director/writer Mitsuhiro Mihara’s 2023 regrettable father-daughter drama is a little too crude to compare favorably to Yasujiro Ozu’s family drama classics
Read all. In a story that centers on Tatsuo, an elderly Onomichi tofu master, and his unique daughter Haru, Mihara clearly channels Ozu’s “Late Spring”; and “Early Summer”; in capturing the peculiarities of their close relationship.
The clownish moments felt like a different film than the one intended
The plot moves forward as each eventually finds potential partners, but only after the requisite number of comedic scenes featuring the core characters have been played out quite extensively. Nevertheless, screen veteran Tatsuya Fuji plays Tatsuo with effortless élan, while Kumiko Aso provides attentive assistance as Haruna.
For a film with a similar sensibility about the artistry behind a uniquely Japanese dish, I recommend watching Naomi Kawase’s 2015 “An (Sweet Bean)”
Fuji’s scenes with Kumi Nakamura as a sick older woman were touching, although the ties to the A-bomb felt contrived to add pathos to the film.
