Umimachi Diary (2015)

 

A story that revolves around three sisters who live in their grandmother's home and the arrival of their thirteen-year-old half sister. 

A beautifully subtle and insightful study of familial, or rather sororal, conflict and solidarity, all set in seemingly everyday situations, but always relative to the main narrative; remarkable also is the great ensemble that makes this all the more convincing.

 

La vérité (2019)

 

A stormy reunion between scriptwriter Lumir with her famous mother and actress, Fabienne, against the backdrop of Fabienne's autobiographic book and her latest role in a Sci-Fi picture as a daughter of a mother who never grows old. 

Undemanding family drama is amusing for having Ethan Hawke play the helpless bystander to a feud between the titans Deneuve and Binoche.

 

Manbiki kazoku (2018)

A family of small-time crooks take in a child they find outside in the cold.

Subtle, humanist and touching drama of a patchwork outside family is portrayed as more loving and sincere than 'normal' families and plays out like a warmhearted inversion of Nagisa Ôshima's Shônen.

Aruitemo aruitemo (2008)

A family gathers together for a commemorative ritual whose nature only gradually becomes clear.

Subtle, but intense family drama magnificently explores the complex web of relationships and tensions within a family; very reminiscent of Yasujirô Ozu's works - and equal in quality.

New acquisition: Umimachi Diary (2015)

New acquisition: Aruitemo aruitemo (2008)