16/49
Tatsuo and his daughter Haru run the Takano Tofu shop in Onomichi
When Tatsuo discovers he is ill, he fears his daughter will be left alone and unknowingly sets out to find Haru, who is right for him. While the plot could (and has) filled quite a few family dramas, here, with the magnetic presence of veteran Tatsuya Fuji (Empire of the Senses),…
Director/writer Mitsuhiro Mihara’s sad father-daughter drama 2023 is far too tense to be compared to Yasujiro Ozu’s classic family dramas
Read more. In a story centered around Tatsuo, an aging tofu master from Onomichi, and his fiercely devoted daughter Haru, Mihara clearly channels Ozu’s “Late Spring”; and “Early Summer”; while capturing the specifics of their close relationship.
The clown moments felt like they were from a different movie than intended
The plot drags on as each of them eventually finds potential partners, but only after the requisite number of comedic scenes with regular characters are played out broadly enough. However, screen veteran Tatsuya Fuji plays Tatsuo with clumsy verve, while Kumiko Aso provides thoughtful assistance as Haru.
Fuji’s scenes with Kumi Nakamura as a sick old woman were touching, though the A-bomb connections seemed designed to inject more pathos into the film
For a film with a similar feel about the art behind the unique Japanese food, I suggest you watch Naomi Kawase’s 2015 film “An (Sweet Bean).”
