Our Little Sister is a 2015 film that stars Ayase Haruka, Nagasawa Masami, Kaho, and Hirose Suzu. Kase Ryo made an appearance in the film as well. The film was directed and written by Koreda Hirokazu( Like Father, Like Son) who was awarded for his efforts at the Japanese Academy awards by winning best director. Each actress also either was nominated or won with Haruka taking home best lead actress for that year. Originally the story was a manga series that was created by Yoshida Akimi, known as Diary from the Seaside Town.
Three sisters live together in the house that their mother left them. The hear the news that their father has died and go to attend the funeral. Problem is that the father left the sister's mother for another women and had a love child in the mist of their infidelity. This girl is basically left alone so the older one of the sister asks her to come live with them. Thus reopening old wounds for the family.
This film is pretty slow moving in plot. Not in a boring sense. Nothing is actually boring about this film. Our Little Sister is just the kind of film that likes to take it's time showing viewers it's undoubted charm. The plot doesn't try anything too flashy. Yes, this is a drama and there's plenty of it but no special tricks are pulled to get you deeper into the story. Every now and then you get a bit of comedy that can be a bit shocking while being funny none the less. The films true charms lies in the characters's emotional bonds with each other. Little things really do count, especially in this film. Many of the scenes that show the sisters spending time with one another are similar to their own mini revelations about life. These times of bonding are more powerful than any soap opera type drama any day of the week. Reasons being that the viewer seem something in these forming relationships that they can take and apply to their own lives. I could directly feel the emotions from the characters of each one of the girls trying to figure out what to do with this girl as well as what to do with their own lives for the future.
Without the lead actress helping to construct a huge portion of the film's charm through their performances, Our Little Sister wouldn't have been the success that it was. Other parts of the film show the sister's lives individually. One part being their love lives while the other is their careers. Their love interests say a lot about each sister. Their reactions to love also plays a big part in how the viewer views them. I liked how the characters were determined to find love but didn't make it such a top priority. At the end of the day, each actress showed that the sisters had each other's backs. They also had a good relationship with the people in the town that they lived in which does effect them plus the story during the course of the film. Ayase was perfect as the oldest sister. She gave off a sophisticated elegance in the role as stand in mother since their real mother went MIA years before.
Scenery shown in the film holds an important role in the film. If you know anything about me, I love scenery or nature. So a film set in a little Japanese country seaside town is perfect for me. The director made sure to precisely get shots of the sisters in this scenery. He directed the camera to be placed a bit farther away from the actresses so that they could easily be captured surrounded by the calming setting. The traditional Japanese house that they lived in contained a feel of openness too probably because the shots were sometimes done from the outside focusing on the open sliding doors that bring in the sunlight from the yard. I also noticed that the camera would slowly move in closer to the actresses as the acted for a closer look at them from farther out.
I don't normally make posts about things that are two years old however, It took me forever to finally watch this film. I'll say that I wasn't disappointed. It's really a cute film that will leave you wanting a little sister of your own.
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