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.

 

Autoreiji (2010)

The boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate.

A complex (and occasionally confusing) story with a simple message, made with style and some dark humor, but in the end adds upas a long sequence of shoot-outs and murders.

Maltin**1/2: "Writer-director Kitano brings some welcome deadpan humor to his role as an old-school enforcer in this stylish - and very grisly - gangster saga with so many double- and triple-crosses that, eventually, it's hard to follow the labyrinthine plot or care about any of the characters."