(Kore-eda Hirokazu, 1995, Japan, 110 minutes)

Kore-eda’s first narrative feature film, and his first film to receive U.S. distribution, finds him in a mode more commonly associated with Yasujirô Ozu, though what would become Kore-eda’s trademark interests are already firmly in place. Our lead is Yumiko (Makiko Esumi), a young woman whose life is derailed by the loss of her husband, Ikuo (Tadanobu Asano, also appearing in Kore-eda’s Distance), with whom she had her young son. At the age of 25, Yumiko suddenly finds herself having to make other plans from the life she expected to enjoy.

With introduction and post-film Q&A by Dr. Linda Ehrlich, film scholar.

In Japanese with English subtitles.