Director: Kurosawa, Kiyoshi

Key actors Kagawa, Teruyuki; Igawa, Haruka; Koyanagi, Yu

Year 2008

Language Japanese (English sub.)

Certificate 12

Duration 119 mins

Country JPN

Genre Drama: Foreign Language

Format DVD

Masters Of Cinema collection

When Ryuhei Sasaki is unceremoniously dumped from his ‘safe’ company job, his family's happy, humdrum life is put at risk. Unwilling to accept the shame of unemployment, the loyal salaryman decides not to tell anyone, instead leaving home each morning in suit and tie with briefcase, spending his days searching for work and lining up for soup with the homeless.

Outstanding performances; serene, elegant direction; and Kurosawa's trademark chills are evident as he ratchets up the unsettling atmosphere and the grim hopelessness of Sasaki's unemployment. His teenage son enlists in the Army in order to fight for the United States, while his adolescent son goes behind his back to take piano lessons. The longer his charade goes on, the less control he has as patriarch, creating an even deeper divide between him and his family.