australian film festival 2013

What is the most important for a father and his family?

Review by Jenny Alvarez

Like Father, Like Son, written and directed by veteran filmmaker Kore-Eda Hirokazu (After Life, Nobody Knows, Still Walking).This story centers on Ryota (Japanese star FUKUYAMA Masaharu), a driven and successful Tokyo architect who works such long hours that he has little time to spend with his wife, Midori (ONO Machiko), and six-year-old son, Keita. When a blood test reveals Keita and another baby were switched at birth, two very different families are thrown together and forced to make a difficult decision while Ryota confronts his own issues of responsibility and what it means to be a father. This movie explores issues of human beings with humanistic touch and how a society makes guilty parents struggle to achieve a healthy life/work balance, especially for families with children younger than 7 years. With no doubts this is a film full of contrasts – the rich control their kids’ time and hobbies, the poor don’t – are italicized. Hirokazu has crafted a warm and lovely film with some dramatic moments especially when dealing with the two families, rather than just the father of its title. Machika Ono, who plays his wife Midori, is engaging as the mother distraught with the guilt that she could not recognize her own son, yet unwilling to part from the son she has called hers for six years. This was the best part of the movie because it happens in real life and all the cast performances are incredible, sensitive and the script is well structured with a good message which teaches us the importance of being a father and how they manage their carriers and family life.

http://youtu.be/12UQNEZAQ4Q