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Still Walking

EMAILPRINTIFC Films

Still Walking reviews
89
9.1 User Score:

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Hirokazu Koreeda

Directed by: Hirokazu Koreeda

Release Date:
Theatrical: August 21, 2009

Running Time: 114 minutes, Color

Origin: Japan

Language(s): Japanese

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kazuya Takahashi, Shohei Tanaka, Kirin Kiki, and Yoshio Harada

Fifteen years ago, Junpei, the youngest son of the Yokoyama family died while rescuing a boy from drowning. On the anniversary of his death, the remaining siblings visit the quaint home of their parents with their families in tow. Over the course of a beautiful day, new relatives become acquainted telling stories and squabbling over sizzling tempura and an elegant graveside ritual is performed for Junpei. (IFC Films)

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Time Out New York Joshua Rothkopf

We are in the presence of a new classic.

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100

The Onion (A.V. Club) Sam Adams

The movie seems like a perfect found object, as if it had always existed and was just waiting to be uncovered.

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100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Painful family issues are more likely to stay beneath the surface, known to everyone but not spoken of. Still Walking, a magnificent new film from Japan, is very wise about that, and very true.

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100

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

This small gem of a movie always feels true and real as it gently reveals the quiet moments that define our lives.

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100

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

The director has said that, though the story was inspired by the deaths of his parents, he hoped to make a film "brimming with life." He's succeeded.

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100

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Pitch-perfect and profoundly moving.

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90

Washington Post John Anderson

One of the more accomplished and beautiful films released thus far this year.

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90

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Koreeda was inspired by his guilt over having neglected his own parents, and the story is remarkable for the quiet, seemingly casual way he depicts the fallout of bitterness and grief.

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90

NPR Mark Jenkins

Quite aside from Shinto transformation parables or Buddhist reincarnation teachings, the final scene shows how family wisdom is conserved and recycled. It's a moment that might elicit a smile or a tear, or perhaps both.

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90

Variety Dennis Harvey

Its modest surface belies the depths of a lovely seriocomedy that concisely lays bare all kinds of uncomfortable dynamics in seemingly casual, low-key fashion.

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90

Village Voice Anthony Kaufman

Koreeda imbues the story with such specificity, tactility, and humanity that yet another movie about a dysfunctional family reunion becomes a cinematic tone poem.

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88

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Joe Williams

A miniaturist's masterpiece, the ebb and flow of familial love distilled to its essence.

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88

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The tone is perfect; this is one of those rare films that, despite being rooted firmly in the world around us, is utterly absorbing and capable of reducing the immediacies of life into abstract thoughts in the back of one's mind.

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83

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The film pays off in the end when, almost imperceptibly, the rush of emotions it stirs in us rises to a soft crescendo.

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80

Empire David Parkinson

Subtle and multi-layered film-making with compelling performances.

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80

The Hollywood Reporter Maggie Lee

Kore-eda listens to his characters' inner thoughts with the attentiveness of a piano tuner, and reveals them with the lightest inferences.

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80

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

This is life as it’s lived, not dreamed. And this is a family bound not only by sorrow, but also by a shared history that emerges in 114 calibrated minutes and ends with a wallop.

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80

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

An usually insightful rendering of an ordinary family, Hirokazu Kore-eda's contemplative Japanese drama is the sort of movie that makes its greatest impact long after you've seen it.

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75

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Koreeda, talented director that he is, never allows the story to sink into soap-opera melodrama, and he refrains from pointing fingers.

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75

Boston Globe Mark Feeney

There’s nothing static about Still Walking.’ The presence of three kids sees to that, as does the eloquence of Kore-eda’s framing and compositions.

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67

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A film of droll and dry observational precision, its emotional minimalism is almost fetishistic -- and, by the end, a tad frustrating.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

nick j. gave it a10:
This is the most affecting and beautiful film of 2009. At the hear of the story is a tale of a family torn apart, and all the opportunities they lost. Beautiful, sad, and haunting cinema.

skip gave it a10:
First time commenting but had to chime in on this gem of a film. Absolutely beautiful little family drama...completely unforced and authentic relationships and gorgeous filmmaking all around. Can't recommend highly enough!

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