Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 2008 film “Still Walking”, which was re-released in South Korean theaters a few days ago, still shines in its tranquil family drama which comes to show more human complexity than it seems at first. While its gentle mood and attitude certainly evoke the works of Yasujirō Ozu, the movie also closely and soberingly observes the growing distance among the family members in the story, and the overall result is often bittersweet for a number of precious human moments to be appreciated.

The story, which is set in some seaside town, mainly revolves around one plain family meeting. 10 years ago, Kyohei (Yoshio Harada) and Toshiko (Kirin Kiki) lost their eldest son due to an unfortunate incident, and they are going to commemorate their dear son’s death along with their two other kids. Their daughter Chinami (You) has already come along with her husband and their two kids, and the movie opens with Chinami and Toshiko busily preparing some dishes in the kitchen of an old house belonging to Toshiko and her husband.

We subsequently see Ryota (Hiroshi Abe) coming along with his wife Yukari (Yui Natsukawa) and her little son from the previous marriage. Knowing well that his stern father does not approve much of his recent marriage just because he is your average old-fashioned guy, Ryota cannot help but feel awkward and uncomfortable even before arriving at his parents’ house, though his wife does not worry that much in contrast to her husband. 

Anyway, the mood becomes a bit brighter as everyone gathers inside the house, though we come to sense more of the tension between Ryota and his father. His father wanted him to become a doctor just like him and his eldest son, but Ryota chose to go for some other occupation instead of following his father’s expectation. As his father does not talk that much to him even under the cordial atmosphere surrounding them and the other family members, Ryota is reminded more of the distance between him and his parents, and that becomes more evident when he later reminds his father that his father does not correctly remember a certain amusing incident in their past.

Meanwhile, the movie gradually immerses us into the sweltering ambiance of summer days. While mostly hanging around the main characters inside the house, the movie occasionally provides some crisp outdoor shots, and I particularly like one particular shot simply showing the whole town from the distance. Observing a train passing by the town, I could not help but think of a similar moment around the end of Ozu’s great film “Tokyo Story” (1953).

Just like “Tokyo Story”, the movie slowly reveals the complex human feelings beneath the supposedly mild interactions among the family members in the story. Yes, Ryota surely has some resentment toward his father, but he still cares about both his father and mother’s welfare, though his professional career is not exactly fine at present. Yes, Chinami and her husband often pay more attention to whether they and their kids will move into her parents’ house someday, but she is sincere in her casual kitchen conversation with her mother. Yes, Kyohei and Toshiko have not been pleased with how their surviving kids are living their respective lives, but they still care about them nonetheless, though they cannot help but wonder how their eldest son would live if he had not died at that time.

While sharply observing the human flaws of the family members in the story, the movie also handles their quiet emotional moments with compassion and understanding. Around the time of the sunset, the family is visited by a young man who was rescued by Kyohei and Toshiko’s eldest son at that time, and this leads to one of the most memorable moments in the film. As the mood becomes a bit more awkward between that lad and the family, this lad looks more pathetic to Kyohei and Toshiko, and this makes them all the more resentful about their eldest son’s death. When Toshiko and Ryota happen to have a brief private conversation in the following evening, Toshiko phlegmatically reveals more of her bitter feeling, and that moment is both edgy and sorrowful for a good reason.

In the end, the family members in the story have another failure to connect despite the remaining affection and care among them, and then the movie adds a poignant finishing touch via the following epilogue scene. Again, the movie simply observes without particularly emphasizing anything at all, but we sense more the underlying emotions beneath the screen, and then we reflect more on those small human moments observed from the main characters along the story.

The main cast members in the film are solid in their well-rounded ensemble performance. While Hiroshi Abe, You, and Kirin Kiki are surely more familiar to you if you have diligently followed Kore-eda’s career during last 25 years, several other main cast members including Yui Natsukawa and Yoshio Harada have each own moment to shine, and you will also appreciate Kore-eda’s skillful handling of his child performers, whose unadorned natural performance surely adds some cheeriness to the movie.

On the whole, “Still Walking” is still one of the best works from Kore-eda, who has seldom disappointed us since his exceptional first feature film “Maborosi” (1995). While soothed and touched by the film again today, I also saw a lot of myself and my family from its family characters, and I am reminded again that I should try more to connect more with them at least even though we are still walking apart with the growing gaps and issues between them day by day. That may not be possible even at the end of their life, but I still must keep trying, right?