2016 old article, moved here.
A place near the sea, a broken family, the daily life of four sisters.
"Sea Street Diary" (Our Little Sister) is a Japanese drama film directed by Hirokazu Koreeda in 2015, starring Haruka Ayase and Masami Nagasawa . Adapted from the manga of the same name by Yoshida Akio, the film tells the story of three sisters who accept their half-sisters to live together after their father's death.
The film does not use realistic methods to express the conflict of the dilapidated family, but uses some romantic elements such as the seaside, streets, cherry blossoms, fireworks, food, etc., plus quiet and delicate emotions, to gently tell the inner growth of the four sisters to heal the family trauma. This is not a complete story, just a snippet of some people's lives.
How can a family that has been abandoned by its parents twice be so peaceful? You'll think it's not real, but you won't notice the blood in the vulgar drama; the emotions revealed by the four sisters will move you, but only a trickle. The minutiae of life and the subtle emotional rendering are exactly the high-level aspects of Japanese warmth and healing movies .
The first shot of the film: bare feet, beautiful legs, and young men and women sleeping soundly on the bed, the instant feeling of a loving couple. Soon, a phone call separates the couple, and at the same time pulls back the eyes to the original life of the protagonists - this is an atypical "three" family: living in it are three sisters, the eldest sister (Kada Yukio), the second Sister (Kada Kano) and third sister (Kada Chika), what kind of stories do they have? With the quiet morning of the seaside, the past is told in a eloquent way.
one,
"That year, my father left his mother and three sisters to live with other women"
In a simple conversation between meals, the eldest sister explained that the two younger sisters were going to attend the funeral of their father, but she could not go because of work. How could he not attend his father's funeral because of work? The relationship between the father and the family was so insignificantly talked about by the daughters, without the slightest emotion, as usual gossip, like women discussing a promotion in a department store without buying discounted products. Not too bad either.
In the end, the eldest sister rushed over and sent her father the last ride.
two,
"That year, their father died, and they took in their half-sister"
During the funeral, the three sisters met another daughter of their father, Xiaomei (Suzu Asano). Perhaps it is because they feel that the little sister is well-behaved and pleasant, perhaps they realize that the little sister is unhappy with her stepmother, or perhaps they can see that the little sister has a temperament of forbearance like them, and the three sisters do not have a daughter who destroys the woman in their family. Shows the hostility and alienation that is naturally present. Even without consulting the second and third sisters, the eldest sister suddenly sent an invitation to the younger sister to live together in the ancestral house.
In the end, the little girl agreed, just as the door of the return train closed.
three,
"That year, my grandmother passed away, leaving the third sisters to live independently"
The camera quietly records the collective, work and emotional lives of the four sisters living in the grandmother's ancestral house. The ancestral house, the street, the seaside, the newly added little girl, the cherry blossoms, the sea cat canteen, the plum tree, the plum wine, the gourmet food, the owner of the sporting goods store, the little girl's classmates... The local life in Kamakura is itself a kind of good medicine. Heal the wounds that have been accumulated in everyone's heart for a long time. Everyone decided to continue the family tradition when grandma was alive, picking plums from the plum tree that was the same age as the mother and making wine.
In the end, every sour plum turned into an intoxicating wine.
Four,
"That year, my mother left the three sisters to my grandmother to raise them and lived elsewhere alone."
Grandma's seven-year bogey, and their mother (I always thought my mother wasn't alive) turned out to be an intruder, temporarily messing up the lives of the daughters. The eldest sister's strong sense of resistance stemmed from the fact that her mother did not take on the burden of life, but selfishly threw everything to her grandmother and her. Unlike other sisters, the eldest sister has deeply experienced the feeling of being abandoned twice. She can only let go of the abandoned abandoner (father), but there are some things that cannot be forgiven for the still alive abandoner (mother), so He retorted and confronted his mother everywhere.
In the end, the eldest sister accompanied her mother to pay homage to her grandmother, and sent two kinds of plum wine, one was the aged wine when the grandmother was alive, and the other was the new wine brewed by the four sisters.
Fives,
"This year is the beginning of a good life"
The owner of the sea cat cafeteria (Aunt Ninomiya) has an irreversible illness. The eldest sister is cared for in the hospice ward of the hospital, the second sister's bank handles her financial business, and the third and younger sisters often visit the cafeteria. She saw some differences in the lives of the four sisters, and even envied their parents-except for the tragic family marriage, they left these four children in the world after all. She thanked everyone for taking care of her and the restaurant, and everyone here is also grateful for the favor of Sea Cat Food. Although life is over, the last date before his death, the photos of cherry blossom trails, and the delicious food that remain in people's memory. Let the living people understand that in addition to a good funeral, she has a wonderful life.
Finally, the four sisters went to the beach. The sisters looked at the little sister who was playing in the water and let go of everything before.
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