Rent Still Walking (2008)

Not for a single second was I distracted from the screen, not once! - Still Walking review by DW

You're in for a treat, it's a cracking film. Might be best to read the resume so that you know the background to this extended family gathering before settling down to some top entertainment, educational too.

I watch a film most evenings, increasing often they're sub-titled World Cinema films so I'm slowly getting to know & admire the genre. I know I won't be distracted by background music, that the ending is unlikely to be fully or even partially conclusive & it's likely to occur suddenly even though I think the plot has more to show. This time I spotted an occasional trait; there isn't always a stand-out central character that the script allows to hog the limelight. Instead, there are scenes that don't include the "star" but which add context to the overall content of this slow-moving on location film. (That wouldn't go down well with some of our more ego-conscious British "lovies")!

The realism level is high so it's fascinating to see the inner workings of sub-urban Japanese life. I felt like an uninvited but welcome stranger on the outer circle of this annual gathering. The external shots of the neighbourhood were educational too though I'm not naive enough to believe that in every Japanese small town road there's a little old lady slowly sweeping the road with a broom & long-handled dustpan, stopping only to respectfully bow to her near neighbours of many years. The things you learn whilst enjoying yourself, who'd have thought it?

Watch it if you can, I'm sorry if you can't.

Family Love, Served Cold - Still Walking review by griggs

Family gatherings are meant to be comforting. This one feels more like sitting too close to a radiator: warm, but slightly unbearable if you stay long enough. The Ozu lineage is obvious — especially Tokyo Story — in the low-key framing, the unforced humour, and the way routine becomes the drama.

The set-up is simple: an ageing couple, a son who never quite matches the version they hoped for, and the absent presence of the child they lost. Grief doesn’t arrive as a speech. It shows up as a paused sentence, a petty remark, a tradition that’s turned into a quiet little weapon. Love is there too, but it’s stubborn and badly expressed.

The parents wear disappointment like armour, yet the film keeps letting you glimpse what’s underneath. Meals do most of the talking: truths slip out over plates, and new ones get quietly filed away in the calmer, more meditative moments. Still Walking is gentle, but it doesn’t let anyone off the hook.