Hidden Movie Gem: “Still Walking”
Today’s Hidden Movie Gem guest post comes courtesy of Vera Mark:
Movie Title: Still Walking (Aruitemo aruitemo)
Year: 2008
Written and directed: Hirokazu Kore-eda (original story and screenplay)
Lead actors: Hiroshi Abe, Yui Natsukawa, You, Kiri Kirin
Plot summary: Still Walking is a contemporary family drama about grown children visiting their elderly parents in a small town near Tokyo on the 17th anniversary of the eldest son’s death. Over the course of 24 hours, amongst lots of food prepared and consumed together in the old family home, a complex tapestry of relationships is revealed. Issues familiar to anyone, such as caring for the ageing parents, are discussed, old wounds are re-opened, tradition and modernity conflict. In the end, nothing has happened, nothing seems to have changed, and yet there is a glimpse of a quietly positive shift. Life goes on through the younger generations. They are still walking.
Why I Think This Movie is a Hidden Gem: What I want most from a film is a good story. Still Walking does not really have a story, and yet it won’t let me go. It is a painting of life’s fundamentals in a yin-yang sort of way: love and hate, expectations and disappointment, old wounds and new beginnings, status and rebellion, tradition and modern life. With very few exceptions, all this is shown very subtly as the relationships unfold: between grandfather and son, grandmother and daughter, grandfather and step-grandson, the grandchildren amongst each other and so on. Every single one of these relationships reveals part of the dynamics of this family.
It’s all been done before: the death of the older son, the younger son a disappointment to his father’s expectations, the controlling mother, the “wrong” daughter-in-law struggling to fit in, repressed and open resentment — but Still Walking shows this with a wonderfully light touch, while the underlying drama and pain is always present. The writer/director has created a family portrait that is both melancholy and sunny, the sparsely used music reflects this atmosphere perfectly, and the actors are their characters, making this film feel 100% authentic. It is not so much a “slow” but rather an unhurried film, with much attention to details but always staying on the light side, never weighing these details down with too much meaning. Yes, it’s all been done before, but I can watch this version again and again and enjoy both the details and the general beauty of it. It is subtle, gentle and detailed; nothing “happens”, and yet every moment captures my attention and my emotions.
I am unfamiliar with Japanese culture, where feelings are generally hidden behind a polite exterior, and I don’t know how a Japanese audience sees — feels — this film. But I love its style, which I would like to call showing-not showing. And in the end… love conquers all. Sort of. But it’s not a soppy, reconciliation-style love, rather a quietly accepting, “let’s move on” sort of love.
My Favorite Moment in the Movie: Hard to choose, as the film is littered with beautiful shots capturing the essence of what the characters are feeling. I’ll offer this one: The grown daughter asks her father to get some milk since he is going out anyway. Her mother’s tiny smile, accompanying her comment that “he would never do that, he is the man in the house”, tells not just volumes but an entire library about their relationship.
My Favorite Dialogue in the Movie? (SPOILER!)
I don’t have the actual dialogue (only Japanese and German on my DVD), but this is it: At dinner the grandmother insists they listen to a 30-year old pop song. The son wonders that they have not heard this before and that she listens to this kind of music. Later, the grandfather sits in the bathtub and hears his wife’s off-hand, off-screen remark about how 30 years ago she followed him, baby son bundled onto her back, to hear him serenade another woman with this song. Her throw-away line and the expression on his face explain so much — and create a gem of a moment.
Key Things to Look For When Watching This Movie: The film does use symbols — a bridge and a butterfly in very slightly jarring on-the-nose moments, compared with the subtlety of the rest of the film. But more interesting to me is how the camera focuses on one thing while dialogue carries on off screen, the way bits of wall or window frame a shot and often half hide a character, how the importance of information is conveyed on the face of the listener rather than by focusing on the speaker. Much of what matters is shown in an indirect way or with some sort of distraction thrown in. Saying-not saying, showing-not showing, just like in real life.
Movie Trailer:
Thanks, Vera! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
Tomorrow: Another Hidden Movie Gem!
Note: At this point, we have 26 guest posts. We are shooting for 31. If you’d like to submit a post for one of your favorite Hidden Movie Gems, please use the above template and email to me.
Also I’m looking for a special horror gem to post on Halloween Day.
You’ve done a great job so far, folks. Let’s finish this series strong!
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