I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Boring, long, and too preachy.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Put aside a part of your clichés about Japan, the director Hirokazu Kore-eda immerses the viewer in the intimacy of three sisters whose personalities are way different. Their kindness leads them to welcome their half-sister whose existence was ignored by them. The photography, bright and refined, provides the movie with a goodwill whose secret is only kept by Japanese productions. Way more than a simple "feel good movie", "Our little sister" never falls into the pathos despite situations that would easily lend to it. Not dramatic nor a comedy, it's the movie's neutrality that is striking : scenes follow one after another without having a single impact on each other and yet, the camera's eye leads us to become infatuated with those four sisters that are learning to be happy together, each of them bounded by her own intrigue in the background. If the message can seem a little bit too bright, sometimes flirting with the gullible, we have no problem embracing this naivety, like during this beautiful biking scene where the blooming sakuras pass before our eyes. Full review on our blog Los Indiscretos : https://losindiscretos.org/english/our-little-sister-2015-hirokazu- koreeda/

The Japanese film Umimachi Diary was shown in the U.S. with the title Our Little Sister (2015). Hirokazu Koreeda directed the movie.Haruka Ayase plays Sachi Kôda, one of three young-adult sisters living in a home owned by their mother. The other sisters are Yoshino, played by Masami Nagasawa, and Chika, played by Kaho. These actors look enough like each other to be sisters, and they are realistic characters. Each has her own personality, and, like any three people living together, they squabble.Their mother has abandoned them 14 years ago, so Sachi has been both mother and sister to them. As the movie opens, we learn that their father has died. The sisters go to the father's funeral, and meet their half-sister Suzu, who is portrayed very well by the young actor Suzu Hirose. She is their father's daughter, but she is the daughter of his second wife. He has married a third time. Now, she is an orphan, although her step-mother could provide for her. Instead, the three sisters invite her to come and live with them.The remainder of the movie is a calm reflection of Suzo's integration into the family. She actually knows their father better than any of the three older sisters, because she was with him from her birth until his death. So the older women ask her for more information about the father. Information about ancestors is important to the Japanese, and we see this theme repeated throughout the film.The movie was interesting to me because there was no fiery revelations, no scenes of caustic criticism, and no horribly sad moments. We follow the women through two years of life, and we get to know them and care about them.I learned the some facts about Japanese culture that I didn't know. For example, the spiritual importance of cherry blossoms, and the ritual of making plum wine.The acting was uniformly excellent. All the sisters are attractive in a low-key way. Haruka Ayase, the oldest sister, has been described as one of the most beautiful women on the planet, and I think this is true. However, what is striking about her in the movie is her calm, competent, dignified presence. She looks intelligent and caring, which is what her role calls for.This is a movie worth seeking out. We saw it in Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. It won't work as well on the small screen. Still, It's an outstanding movie, Don't miss it.

Three sisters Sachi, Yoshino and Chika live together in their old house. Their father abandoned them as kids and ran our with another woman. Soon their mother followed suit and left them with their grandmother. As their father died, while already married to his third wife, they find their half sister Suzu, their father's daughter from her second wife. The movie tells the story with Suzu as a new addition to the house, including the friction with the sister's mother, Suzu's development in her new environment, and the deaths of close people the sisters know from childhood. I really like this movie. It's no secret that Japan can also produce gripping family drama stories like this. Our Little Sister (2015) tells us a "what if" story which may not happen in the real world, but the story's development is nicely logic and emotional at the same time, without having to be full with confrontation. I like how the story stretches wide enough but still gets confined into the limits of the small town where the sisters live in.What strikes as strange is that this is the second good Japan drama movie that has great story after Departures (2008). Both movies strongly feature themes related to death, particularly death of an estranged father. Both also focus on the live of small Japanese town instead of the metropolitan or the rural area.Acting-wise, Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho and Suzu Hirose did well in giving life to their characters. I like how the they kept their character steady along the whole two hours of the movie. They acted well that audience will easily sympathize to them, even though their characters have oddly awkward backgrounds facing each other, particularly Suzu to the sisters. My say for Our Little Sister (2015) is a solid 7 out of 10. For me it's a really recommended watch. But then again it may be hard to find this movie in local theaters.

All the Hollywood directors producing one comic-book sequel after the other (and all other directors as well) should see this film, they should turn away in shame, and quit directing. Movie is largely seen as a medium to entertain, yet it could be so much more.Watching this movie, in every scene, it is incomprehensible for a western viewer how it is filmed: There are only daily life scenes, nothing dramatic, yet it is such a heart-warming experience, a simple joy of watching people living their lives.The story follows 3 very different grown-up sisters who live independently in a big house. The father has left them when they were little, and now they learn that they yet have another little sister. Soon their little dormitory has an additional guest. The main characters are the youngest sister who tries to adapt to her new life, and the oldest sister who is determined to live her life lead by strength and kindness.Critics have compared Kore-eda with Ozu, because of his calm observation of life. Still, Ozu's films contain great sadness, while Kore-eda's movies ('Like Father,Like Son', 'Kiseki') are full of hope and joy for living. They show simple people trying to find happiness in life. It has a Zen-like quality: one doesn't need big dramatic events to show love and kindness, if you are looking close enough you will find it in the most ordinary things in daily life.This is one of the best movies I've ever seen.