By now, it's a bit of a cliché to compare the work of Hirokazu Koreeda to the masterful films of Yasujiro Ozu — something of which I've certainly been guilty. Although Koreeda's earliest feature, 1995's Maborosi, and his 2004 Cannes winner, Nobody Knows, are magnificent family dramas, they were informed by his early documentary work. His latest, however, does share some DNA with one of Ozu's most beloved films, 1953's Tokyo Story. Here, it's the grown children, Kyohei (You) and Ryota (Hiroshi Abe), of an elderly couple (Yoshio Harada and the exceptional Kirin Kiki) who are doing the visiting, as they observe the 15th anniversary of the death of their eldest brother, who drowned while trying to save another boy. It's an event that still shapes the family, as you can grasp even within this delightful film's 24-hour time frame.
SOMERVILLE THEATRE: APRIL 25 at 1:30 PM
