Still Walking - BD-US (CC) vs. R1 (CC) vs. R2J

Film Reviews and Release Comparisons
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Lourdes
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Re: Still Walking - BD-US (CC) vs. R1 (CC) vs. R2J

Post by Lourdes »

Criterion say:
"New high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Hirokazu Kore-eda and director of photography Yutaka Yamazaki"
Hmm... yes it's better than the R2J released four years ago but doesn't really look like it's from a new master.
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Shingster
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Re: Still Walking - BD-US (CC) vs. R1 (CC) vs. R2J

Post by Shingster »

TBH new master or not the Criterion release looks pretty much exactly as you'd expect a "new" Koreeda film to look. I caught I Wish in cinemas and it looked pretty much the same.
Lourdes
Royal Tramp
Posts: 1994
Joined: 08 Jan 2005, 16:19

Re: Still Walking - BD-US (CC) vs. R1 (CC) vs. R2J

Post by Lourdes »

How is the film? "I Wish" was pretty forgettable and this seems to have the same cast; though to be fair there are only about 20 people acting in Japan.
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Shingster
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Re: Still Walking - BD-US (CC) vs. R1 (CC) vs. R2J

Post by Shingster »

Haha, well one of them sadly died not long after making I Wish so Koreeda will have to rely on the other 19 from here on out!

I thought it was pretty good, not as quaint or sentimental as I Wish. It's basically a modern-day Ozu film, I know he's always been a strong influence on Koreeda but Still Walking is practically a love letter to him. Storyline is fairly unoriginal: Family get together to celebrate the anniversary of the oldest son's death, he was the golden child of the household who was going to inherit his father's smalltown surgery, but he died and the 2nd eldest (Abe) buggered off to Tokyo (or some other city) to be an artist instead. Needless to say, there are tensions between him and the father & that's led to the son's estrangement from the family. All standard "family drama" stuff really, but Koreeda's always had an eye for realism so the family dynamics feel sincere enough, plus there are no attempts to pander to the audience by making the central characters likeable all the time.
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