Our Little Sister or 海街diary
(2015) dir. Hirokazu Koreeda
In an old house by the sea in Kamakura, live three sisters in their twenties and thirties in an idyllic sharehouse or “girls’ dormitory”. But as lovely a home as the Kōda sisters have made, they have a family past full of ups-and-downs. One character in the film describes Sachi (Haruka Ayase), Yoshino (Masami Nagasawa), and Chika’s parents as having “denied them their childhood”. Their father had an affair and left their mother, and their mother departed not long after it seems. This left Sachi, the eldest and still in highschool, to raise Yoshino and Chika along with their grandmother. When the Kōda sisters’ estranged father passes away, they meet his daughter from his second marriage, Suzu (Suzu Hirose). Suzu’s own mother has died, and the sisters agree to take her in at Sachi’s suggestion. The sisters’ resilience, affection, and emotional adjustment despite their past, provides a welcome relief for young Suzu, still a teenager. This is particularly so for the eldest Sachi, who takes on a mother role for Suzu.
The film follows the sisters’ efforts, in particular Sachi’s, to process their relationship with both parents, and the internalised complexes of hurt, anger, blame and responsibility still playing out subtly in their lives. These more poignant themes are balanced with the vivacity and affection of their sisterly dynamics.
This is one of Koreeda’s most well-balanced and delightful films, and I found it stirring and heartwarming, anchored by his signature quasi-realist style, and very strong performances from all the cast. Supporting actors include the wonderful Kirin Kiki, Jun Fubuki, Ryo Kase, and Lily Franky. I found the character of Chika played by Kaho Indō particularly endearing. Koreeda’s recurring themes of kids fending for themselves, childlike or immature parents, and the parent-child relationship appear once more, and Our Little Sister reaffirms the fact that Koreeda is at his best when he examines these from the kids’ perspectives rather than the adults (let’s all forget the unpalatable After the Storm). But unlike Nobody Knows and I Wish, most of the “children” in Our Little Sister are young adults themselves, and this new perspective is also refreshing. It is a relief to see Koreeda make such a female-centric film too, after having seen After the Storm, in which the male-female dynamics troubled me greatly and were treated heavy-handedly. Yes, in Our Little Sister, the dynamics are still fairly heteronormative, and the “realism” still conservative, but not when compared to Japanese social norms, I hazard a guess.
Fans of sisterhood themed films a la Pride and Prejudice, Little Women will recognise a similarly captured bonhomie and warmth, and I felt Koreeda was conscious of these, particularly in the choice of music by Yoko Kanno, which felt like a gentle reference to Jean Yve Thibaudet’s score for the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
I really enjoyed this film. 4/5
For those in Australia, Our Little Sister is available to stream for free on SBSOnDemand.
