Still Walking

A family reunites for the anniversary of a son’s tragic death in Kore-eda’s deceptively unadorned examination of grown children and growing-older parents, redolent of the pace and themes of Yasujiro Ozu yet entirely Kore-eda’s own in its approach to the attachments and periodic resentments that mark private lives. Brought together for a day of grief, three generations remain emotionally apart, sharing only meals (each intricately, lovingly filmed), walks, and masterfully passive-aggressive putdowns. Inspired by Kore-eda’s own mother’s passing, Still Walking offers a highly personal yet universal and richly rewarding look at aging, family, and the regrets that haunt us. “My intent was to capture a moment of life,” wrote Kore-eda. “And fold into that moment, all the ambiguities of family memory. Just like the photos in an old family album.” “The triumph of Still Walking is that it illuminates one family’s history and emotional dynamics in the simplest possible way,” noted Tony Rayns, “and does so from the inside looking out.”