Tokyo Sonata

A very good movie we watched during our Christmas holidays: Tokyo Sonata - how an ordinary life goes off the rails when a salary man (and family man) loses his job. I don't know if it's a true representation of life in Japan or not - a cramped house beside the railway line, a housewife who cooks and always seems to have food ready to serve to her husband and two sons, a man whose life is defined by his work, and who feels lost without it, an older son who wants to fight for his ideals, a younger son who is talented and is not afraid to stand up to his father (and to operate behind his back when necessary). All of these people, lost in their lives of routine, respect and authority, and who need a major catastrophe to re-assess their priorities and open up to their true feelings.

Very subtle, with humour and pathos, despair and hope. I loved it.