Kabei - Our Mother

If you are looking for Katanas and Samurai, this is not your film. It takes place in the 1930's long after those things are gone. It is about a mother of two children dealing dealing with the ramifications of her husbands moral objections to the Japanese war with China, to a period just after the Hiroshima as seen entirely from this one womans perspective. Like all Japanese movies, there is no truly happy ending, one bit of the film making art that the Japanese never mastered.By the end of the film Kaibie has lost a husband who died ignominiously in prison (for not thinking like a true Japanese), a potential replacement (one of her husbands students) has been shipped off to be killed in China (actually on the way home), and her favorite relative has been fried at Hiroshima. To make matters worse, she was dispossessed by her father who was embarrassed by her husband at a dinner party where he is showing off his new trophy wife. Her two daughters do survive and prosper however we find in the epilogue, one being a doctor and the other an art teacher. The last scene has Kaibie on her death bed dieing of old age (The happiest event of the movie - that someone died of old age) with her two daughters in attendance. It is modern Japan at this point and we see the results of the womans excellent efforts with these two kids. Her last words do upset Teruyo, the youngest daughter, now middle aged, ensuring that no one comes away feeling good.As you read this review, remember that this is very much a classic Japanese film and that all the rules apply. This movie was a study of how Japanese society worked in the 30's and 40's and is not a "feel good always happy" American film. There is no bad guy, it is a focused look at misery and deprivation, with small amounts of kindness thrown in along the way. Like life, Japanese films come with inspirational but tragic endings. This is the Japanese version of a chick flic and has enough emotion to make a woman happy.Normally, I only purchase Samurai films, but I went with this to sample the culture. It was a good buy, and while I won't watch it over and over, it is one of the most recommended works in my collection.

Yamada Yoji is one of my favorite film makers, he was assistant director on Ozu’s Tokyo Story and made most of the Tora-san films,—there were 48 of them, all basically the same story, and if he had not died he would have made more and the people of Japan would have welcomed them. He is also known for a sense of “social justice” and one criticism is that sometimes the message competes with the film experience, still his artistic ability to communicate basic human relations on film means they are all Good films and some are Great films. Yamada, like Ozu, was concerned with the effect of social changes on the family, and as the title suggests its about family experiences, it is a good film and like any artistic experience I think you will appreciate something about life from watching it.

Kabei reveals the struggles and hardships of the ordinary Japanese before and during WW2. It shows how the imperialist government imprisoned those who opposed the aggressive military wars in Korea and China and Southeast Asia.Kabei shows these hardships while showing the love of a mother for her imprisoned husband and her loving young daughters.

Beautiful movie on delicate historical topics. Sayuri Yoshinaga never fails to excell as an actress.

Beautiful movie. A mix of emotions when you watch it. Well worth the time to stop and watch this one. Note: It's in Japanese with English subtitles. It doesn't give you an option to choose to have it dubbed in English.

This is a very realistic good movie. This movie scoops out a sad and ugly aspect of the war, but overall impression is somewhat a positive and heartwarming. I list this as one of the best movies.

This film is a great film. I'm glad I purchased it, and thank you for having it.

The movie gives a wonderful insight into Japanese culture prior and during the second World War. Seeing the events through the eyes of one particular family was most enjoyable.

Un chef d’œuvre ! performance incroyable de Jeff Goldblum bien accompagné par l’excellente Geena Davis.Captivant, enivrant, effrayant mais aussi dégoûtant et repoussant... INOUBLIABLE

Reçu sous blisterL'image est le son sa vaJe l'avais vu y à longtempsBon avec les années qui ont passées je ne le voit plus de la. Méme manière

Un DVD à avoir en collection pour les nostalgiques

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rien a dire