Special admission prices apply: General admission, $10 until March 11, $11 on or after March 12; BAM/PFA and Center for Asian American Media members, $8; Students, seniors, and disabled persons, $9.

Winner of the Jury Prize in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section, Kiyoshi Kurosawa's latest film finds the director departing from the supernatural terrain of his horror films to present a piercing, devastating family drama. Downsized from his company, Ryuhei Sasaki still leaves home each day pretending to go to work before joining other former salarymen on the streets. Meanwhile, his elder son joins the U.S. military, and his younger son takes piano lessons in secret. Ryuhei's wife attempts to keep the family from unraveling, but a series of events accelerates their transit to an inevitable, destructive destination. Though the darkly comic and deeply unsettling tone recalls Kurosawa's previous works, the sharply observed crevices in the seemingly ordinary family are in a sense more chilling than any of his dread-inspiring ghosts. Yet the sublime, memorable final scene offers a glimpse at the possibility of renewal, making Tokyo Sonata arguably Kurosawa's most hopeful film to date.