Our Little Sister
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Talent: Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose
Released: 15th April
Young sisters Sachi (Ayase), Yoshino (Nagasawa) and Chika (Kaho) have lived together in a sort of volatile happiness in their grandmother’s house for many years since their parents left them. Now, their estranged father’s death means a 13 year old daughter from another relationship, Suzu (Hirose), is potentially orphaned, and so the three invite her to live with them and become part of their unorthodox family.
Based on the manga Umimachi Diary by Akimi Yoshida, the richness of detail in the seaside town in which its domestic drama takes place sets this film apart as special. There is a great warmth to its depiction of everyday sisterly squabbling and solidarity, as well as to an idyllic community nonetheless beset by the universal difficulties of heartbreak, debt and death. With four touching performances at its heart and a refreshingly feminine focus on its central themes, Our Little Sister is a disarming, affecting and unimpeachably pleasant film.
Words: Oisín Murphy-Hall
