X
- 2016
- PG
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 2 h 7 m
- 2016
- PG
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 2 h 7 m
Summary Three sisters - Sachi, Yoshino and Chika - live together in a large house in the seaside town of Kamakura. When they learn of their estranged father’s death, they decide to travel to the countryside for his funeral. There they meet their shy teenage half-sister Suzu for the first time and, bonding quickly, invite her to live with them. S...
Directed By: Hirokazu Koreeda
Written By: Akimi Yoshida, Hirokazu Koreeda
- 2016
- PG
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 2 h 7 m
- 2016
- PG
- Sony Pictures Classics
- 2 h 7 m
Our Little Sister
75
7.7
Where to Watch
Summary Three sisters - Sachi, Yoshino and Chika - live together in a large house in the seaside town of Kamakura. When they learn of their estranged father’s death, they decide to travel to the countryside for his funeral. There they meet their shy teenage half-sister Suzu for the first time and, bonding quickly, invite her to live with them. S...
Directed By: Hirokazu Koreeda
Written By: Akimi Yoshida, Hirokazu Koreeda
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
75
77% Positive
24 Reviews
24 Reviews
23% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 31 Critic Reviews
75
77% Positive
24 Reviews
24 Reviews
23% Mixed
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Don’t be put off by the need to read subtitles. Rarely has a film more eloquently captured the universality of human experience.
It’s a movie that, by its serene final scene, changes its viewer. You leave happier, honored to have been, for two hours, part of this family.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 37 User Ratings
7.7
81% Positive
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
16% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 37 User Ratings
7.7
81% Positive
30 Ratings
30 Ratings
16% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
3% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
I really enjoyed this film. Its a gentle, laidback style film, which I felt had a particularly good use of music score - it wasn't too overbearing.
I enjoyed seeing the sisters interact and learning about their individual lives. There are themes present including secrets, death and the importance of families. Its a thoughtful watch and I also enjoyed watching it in terms of seeing the Japanese surroundings. The house the film is mostly set in is quite pretty and there are some other places shown. I thought it was interesting to see how they deal with death in terms of the ceremonies shown and the like - it does definitely show an aspect of Japanese culture, although its a drama film rather than a documentary as such. It may be a little slow, plot development wise but if your like me and enjoy world cinema, esp, Asian world cinema, and learning about other cultures, or if you like dramas about family secrets and the like, then this is well worth a watch (as long as your ok with subtitles, obviously).
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The practiced calmness of Kore-eda’s approach is such that you barely notice the speed at which he tugs the plot along and flips from one setting to the next.
By the end, a Zen-like calm that might be mistaken for stasis settles over the story. But these lives move forward slowly, inexorably, and they move us, too.
Kore-eda's trademark humility and humanism is here, and we do get glimpses, even stretches, that suggest the piercingly bittersweet vitality of his best work. But "Our Little Sister" feels like "Kore-eda lite."
Our Little Sister often vibrates with such tenderness of feeling that it’s difficult to dismiss outright. The excellent performances from the four lead actresses help offset the occasional heavy-handedness of the script, with Kore-eda alive to their distinctive tics and gestures.
Had the story been more focused rather than trying to encompass all four sisters as protagonists as well as integrate a number of redundant secondary characters, it likely could have yielded more satisfying results.
Gushing over this sweet film. It captures the essence of sorority. The women laugh, bicker, tease, hang out, and learn together. They make themselves responsible for supporting and connecting with one another in spite of the difficulty of their family situations. What I saw here was a beautiful and mushy reminder of what women can do for one another. “I’m so glad beauty still looks beautiful to me.”
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Koreeda has another solid film here. He is always able to observe people living regular lives and then throws a wrench in it. His films are a study of the human spirit, what it actually takes to break it and how we come out on the other side. His last two films “Like Father, Like Son” and “I Wish” showcase this and so does “Our Little Sister”. At the core of all his films is heart, Love is in every frame as honestly as it could be perceived. You really want to see what will happen next in their lives. Another Solid Film by a Master.
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Wie wenig wir über die japanische Kultur wirklich wissen, macht Unsere kleine Schwester einmal mehr deutlich: Hirokazu Koreedas Manga-Verfilmung hat mit Knuddelkatzen, Mech-Robotern oder exotischen Sexpraktiken nämlich nichts am Hut. Stattdessen erzählt die sehr unaufdringlich gefilmte Tragikomödie von drei Schwestern, die nach dem Tode des Vaters der jungen vierten Obdach gewähren. Das spontane Bündnis ändert das Leben beider Parteien vehement: Während die junge Suzu in der Großstadt ihre konservative Hülle abstreift, befreit Suzus frische Perspektive ihre vermeintlich erwachsenen Mitbewohner aus Alltagstrott und starren Denkmustern. Subtil kritisiert Koreeda dabei das oft rigorose Moral- und Wertungssystem Japans und untermauert seine Argumentation mit einem ungewöhnlich liberalen Figuren-Ensemble. Unsere kleine Schwester ist somit selbst für Asien-Kenner überraschend – wenn die über die manchmal kitschige Musik und die etwas zähe Mitte hinwegsehen können.
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Lovely cinematography, fine performances and ample warm fuzzy moments, unfortunately, aren't enough to save this underdeveloped effort from living up to its full potential. It's not that it's bad; it's just ultimately unsatisfying and somewhat overlong. Which is unfortunate, given the talent of a director who's genuinely capable of much better.
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A tale of four sisters living under the same roof.
It was based on the manga series. This is from one of the best directors from Japan that I am familiar with his works. I have seen some of his previous films and I loved them all, but sadly not this time. To be honest, I'm not the fan of this kind of movies, but I have watched them a lot before and liked them a lot. This movie is totally made for the film critics and film festivals, but winning awards that I never understood how.
They call it an art film, but not everyone going to enjoy it. There's no entertainment in it, nor inspiring. It was like someone's real life portrayed on the screen yet not a documentary. I mean it covered everything, every bit of that person's life, even that was not so important, but only to kill the run time. If you want to try it, make sure got lots of time, especially watching it with patience is very essential.
So what I meant was this film is completely out of cinematic experience like what a film fanatic, families least expect from a movie. It was without the twists, turns, thrills, sad, happy, romance because of too much realism. In one word, it was a straightforward narrative. There will be no exciting developments, nor easy to predict.
If someone is going like it, that might be mostly out of courtesy, and maybe for the cast and their performances and the respect for the film making or maybe they're somewhat close to this story. But individuals have their own reasons why they liked it, likewise I'm writing this review to say why I did not like much. Other than that, I don't see anything special in it to praise this product.
"I'll be in your hands from now on."
Don't accuse me that I'm totally bashing it, actually to me it was an average movie, which mean I did not hate nor liked. The best thing I found in the movie was the characters. Four sisters living under the one roof with love and care for one another. But the movie failed to focus them all equally by leaning too much on only a couple of characters. Like the title say obviously it centres on the 14 year old Suzu who's the youngest among and the newest member to join the house. But that did not bring the best story out of that character, at least not as what I hoped for.
The photography was good, the locations were beautiful, especially in the opening that rural Japan. A brief view into the Japanese culture, especially the lifestyle of the young independent women. Frame by frame it gives the feel of you are watching an anime movie. I think I might have loved it if it was an anime, because usually a young girl or a boy theme is always a success.
In this kind of film making, it is always the combination of the characters and the story. The characters were fantastic in this, but the story was not, hence I was disappointed a bit. I never interested in the gossip about someone's life. Maybe that's why I did not like this because I felt like it was someone's life which is nothing to do with me.
You know normal life is too boring in reality as well as to see in a movie. But I still respect the movie, that's why I did not consider it a bad film. I won't suggest it, but you might like what I did not because of the different taste in the movies. So all I say is choose it carefully, don't let the ratings and the reviews deceive you, including mine.
6/10
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Production Company
Fuji IG Laboratory for Movies (FILM),
Fuji Television Network,
Gaga,
Shogakukan,
TV Man Union,
Toho
Release Date Jul 8, 2016
Duration 2 h 7 m
Rating PG
Website
http://umimachi.gaga.ne.jp/
Awards
Awards of the Japanese Academy
• 5 Wins & 13 Nominations
Asian Film Critics Association Awards
• 4 Wins & 6 Nominations
Chlotrudis Awards
• 4 Nominations
