2012-05-19
Kaasan Mom\'s Life: A Tender Family Drama
Based on personal experiences of manga artist Rieko Saibara, Kaasan Mom\'s Life is a tender and surprisingly funny drama of how a family stays buoyant under the strain of her war photographer husband Yutaka Kamoshida\'s alcoholism and cancer. Director Shotaro Kobayashi\'s attitude is never maudlin or judgmental; he simply immerses one in Saibara\'s daily battles as a working mother, as well as the demand and reward of parenthood. Cushioned by the good-humored and debonair tone, Kamoshida\'s spiral of self-destruction hits home at the end with as much heartrending force as Leaving Las Vegas.
The saga of Saibara and Kamoshida has already been adapted for the screen as Wandering Home, using the latter\'s autobiography as a prime source. While its director Yoichi Higashi focuses on Kamoshida\'s stints at various medical institutions and stylized them as surreal black comedy, Kobayashi gives central voice to Saibara, who narrates in the conversational tone of her serial manga Mainichi Kaasan.
The film opens with a typical day in Saibara\'s life, which is a whirlwind of multitasking. Her children, six-year-old Bunji and four-year-old Fumi provide a light-hearted mood with their mischievous antics and delightfully no-nonsense world views. For a while, Saibara seems no different from any Japanese housewife until the rude awakening of visiting dad in a rehab clinic, attached to a V.I. drip.
Nagase, whose performance won him Best Actor in the Japan Critics Award, projects enough boyish charm amidst his self-absorption to convince that sometimes he could be the perfect dad and lover, like when he comes back from a fishing outing with Bunji, with their catch still flapping about in his pockets. Flashbacks of Kamoshida and Saibara\'s dates in exotic lands are staged with fake sets and props out of school plays and children\'s shows to instill a storybook quality to their initial romance.
However, the narrative gets considerably darker as Kamoshida keeps succumbing to booze. Initially, it\'s farcical when he gulps down a bottle of "mirin" while cooking, but eventually it becomes harrowing when traumatic memories of Cambodian killing fields trigger hallucinations and violent outbursts.
One-time teen idol Koizumi holds herself with a lot of grace and self-possession. She makes her role seem unfazed and unflappable no matter how bad things get, but in the few rare shots when one sees her shell crack, even keeping a smile on her face now comes across as a Herculean effort, and one wonders if she is just too busy and tired to get depressed or kick up a fuss.
The care with which the screenplay puts into catching the characters slightest mood shifts and the children\'s subtle maturing pays off in the final scenes, which convey serene dignity to Kamoshida\'s last days. The sense that fulfillment comes from just getting through another hectic day is reinforced by showing photos taken by Nagase and Kamoshida while end credits roll.
For the full review, please visit www.thr.com.
The saga of Saibara and Kamoshida has already been adapted for the screen as Wandering Home, using the latter\'s autobiography as a prime source. While its director Yoichi Higashi focuses on Kamoshida\'s stints at various medical institutions and stylized them as surreal black comedy, Kobayashi gives central voice to Saibara, who narrates in the conversational tone of her serial manga Mainichi Kaasan.
The film opens with a typical day in Saibara\'s life, which is a whirlwind of multitasking. Her children, six-year-old Bunji and four-year-old Fumi provide a light-hearted mood with their mischievous antics and delightfully no-nonsense world views. For a while, Saibara seems no different from any Japanese housewife until the rude awakening of visiting dad in a rehab clinic, attached to a V.I. drip.
Nagase, whose performance won him Best Actor in the Japan Critics Award, projects enough boyish charm amidst his self-absorption to convince that sometimes he could be the perfect dad and lover, like when he comes back from a fishing outing with Bunji, with their catch still flapping about in his pockets. Flashbacks of Kamoshida and Saibara\'s dates in exotic lands are staged with fake sets and props out of school plays and children\'s shows to instill a storybook quality to their initial romance.
However, the narrative gets considerably darker as Kamoshida keeps succumbing to booze. Initially, it\'s farcical when he gulps down a bottle of "mirin" while cooking, but eventually it becomes harrowing when traumatic memories of Cambodian killing fields trigger hallucinations and violent outbursts.
One-time teen idol Koizumi holds herself with a lot of grace and self-possession. She makes her role seem unfazed and unflappable no matter how bad things get, but in the few rare shots when one sees her shell crack, even keeping a smile on her face now comes across as a Herculean effort, and one wonders if she is just too busy and tired to get depressed or kick up a fuss.
The care with which the screenplay puts into catching the characters slightest mood shifts and the children\'s subtle maturing pays off in the final scenes, which convey serene dignity to Kamoshida\'s last days. The sense that fulfillment comes from just getting through another hectic day is reinforced by showing photos taken by Nagase and Kamoshida while end credits roll.
For the full review, please visit www.thr.com.
byMaggie Lee
Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism
