Still Walking | |
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Film poster
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Directed by | Hirokazu Koreeda |
Written by | Hirokazu Koreeda |
Starring |
Hiroshi Abe Yui Natsukawa You |
Music by | Gontiti |
Cinematography | Yutaka Yamasaki |
Edited by | Hirokazu Koreeda |
Production
company |
CineQuanon
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Distributed by | IFC Films |
Release date
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Running time
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114 minutes |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Still Walking (歩いても 歩いても Aruitemo aruitemo?) is a 2008 Japanese film directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda. The film is a portrait of a family over roughly 24 hours as they commemorate the death of the eldest son. The film won the Golden Astor for Best Film at the 2008 Mar del Plata International Film Festival
The Yokoyama family come together every year to commemorate the death of the eldest son, Junpei, who drowned accidentally 15 years ago while saving the life of another boy. His father Kyohei, a retired doctor, and mother Toshiko are joined by their surviving son Ryota, who has recently married a widow with a young son, and their daughter Chinami, her husband and their children. The family experience nostalgia, humour, sadness and tension as memories are shared and ceremonies performed.
The film received universal acclaim by film critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% out of 62 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 8.3/10 and the site consensus being: "Hirokazu Kore-eda's film may seem modest at first, but this family drama casts a delicate, entrancing spell." In a Chicago Sun-Times review, Roger Ebert gave Still Walking four stars (out of four). Ebert's review argues that director Koreeda is an heir of Yasujirō Ozu. Trevor Johnston, writing for Sight & Sound, strongly praised the film stating "In the end, though, however one positions Still Walking in the firmament of Japan's cinematic achievements, one thing is sure: it belongs up there with the masters." The film won the Asian Film Award for Best Director, and was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.