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      Kabei: Our Mother

      Released May 8, 2009 2 hr. 13 min. Drama List
      88% 16 Reviews Tomatometer 80% 500+ Ratings Audience Score In 1940 Tokyo, a woman (Sayuri Yoshinaga) struggles to hold her family together after her husband is imprisonedfor his political views. Read More Read Less

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      Kabei: Our Mother

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      Audience Reviews

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      Audience Member A delicate film, capable of moving with soft tones and evoking profound reflections with a few words and a lot of silence. A film that does not disappoint, by a director who does not disappoint. A must see. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A great film about a family in Japan during World War II. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Synopsis: When her husband is jailed for radical scholarship and accused of being a Communist, Kayo Nogami faces the daunting task of raising two daughters -- and enduring the biting cruelties of neighborhood gossip -- all on her own. Yoji yamada is one of the premeire japanese directors actively working in the business today. A vast majority of his filmography is entries into a long running comedy series. Thus although Yamada has been working constantly since the sixties, his filmography of notable titles contains little more than a handful of films. Kabei: Our Mother is most certainly one of them. Like his previous samurai trilogy, Kabei is a period piece that conjures more comparisons to John Ford, with it's slow patience and focus on poverty-stricken familial life, than perhaps any single japanese auteur of yesteryear. Also like Yamada's Samurai trilogy, Kabei has a prominent historical narrative that foils the film's central conflicts. It's here in the annals of World War II that Kabei: Our Mother finds it's most interesting aspects. Mainly because the central tale revolving around the poor family is too bogged down with negative emotion. It's no surprise that Yamada has made a tearjerker, not after the incredible success he had with the twilight samurai after years of directing comedies. With Kabei however, the constant depression borders on overkill and quickly gets repetitive. But considering there is really little else wrong with the picture, it's hard to not eventually forgive the feature once your thoroughly invested in it's fully formed characters and evocative period setting. Though it is heavily repetitive with it's constant desire to draw emotions from it's audience, Kabei: Our Mother is nonetheless a satisfying period piece from Yoji Yamada. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member The movie info says a lot about this movie, but this is my piece. This is a historical drama. A human drama and of course, a love story. A story narrated from the daughter, Teru-bei about the life and times of her mother. This is a love story Kayo - a loving mother, a loyal daughter, a good wife and a great woman - towards her family. I watched this movie on Mother's Day and yes, this is the best movie tribute to a person called 'mother'. 5 star: Great performance by the casts. Great script and plot. Great directing. And of course, the cameo of Baisho Chieko was awesome. :) Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Audience Member Like all of Yamada's films I've seen, the relationships he captures on film always draw me close and keep me interested and, eventually, become emotionally invested. His works touch me with how he portrays and develops relationships. An entire movie can take place in one room, and you're so enthralled with the people, that you hardly even noticed, nor care for a change in physical scenery, when the emotional scenery you see from the journey he portrays is so enduring. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member The Director of 'Love and Honor' 'The Hidden Blade' and 'Twlight Samurai' changes tact here for this story set in 1940. Straight away i noticed the use of certain items that he couldn't have in his earlier period pieces (but i thought were cleverly presented at the start of this film). Namely - The newspaper, the car and the clock. All telling us about how time has changed things. Or maybe i'm just comparing and reading too much into this. Certain things haven't changed - the mother still in the same position cleaning....and the style of the film, although both the tale and the picture are darker with events happening faster. Maybe faster or quicker are the wrong description it's still at a snail's pace - This director is a brilliant storyteller and there's no need to rush. It's always been about relationships.....and this one is about the children's with their mother. The setting isn't as charming as the other films, but the story's good...I liked it. I liked the 'bowing' scene, that was humourus. Not bad when it's the director's 80th film! This was totally fascinating and absorbing. But i didn't like the ending....it's the weakest of his i've seen. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Critics Reviews

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      John Hartl Seattle Times Partly because they're relatively rare, homefront movies usually offer a fresh perspective on the tragedies of World War II. That's the case once more with Kabei: Our Mother, a sad and stirring drama from the other side of the Pacific. Rated: 3/4 Jul 10, 2009 Full Review V.A. Musetto New York Post For those who prefer movies of substance, there are alternatives -- and I don't mean Terminator Salvation. Rated: 2/4 May 22, 2009 Full Review Jeannette Catsoulis New York Times Enriched by Mutsuo Naganuma's velvety photography, the director's restrained emotional grammar is surprisingly affecting. Rated: 3.5/5 May 22, 2009 Full Review Grant Watson Fiction Machine What could easily have been a maudlin and tedious melodrama becomes a sensitive, heartfelt and engaging drama in the hands of writer/director Yoji Yamada. Rated: 8/10 Jul 20, 2023 Full Review David Harris Spectrum Culture Despite its slow pace and over length, Kabei: Our Mother presents a poignant portrait of Japan in the 1940s. Rated: 3/5 Oct 9, 2019 Full Review Don Willmott Filmcritic.com Painful though it may be, Kb is finely crafted and totally enjoyable. Watch Rated: 3.5/5 Sep 8, 2009 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis In 1940 Tokyo, a woman (Sayuri Yoshinaga) struggles to hold her family together after her husband is imprisonedfor his political views.
      Director
      Yôji Yamada
      Screenwriter
      Yôji Yamada, Emiko Hiramatsu
      Distributor
      Strand
      Production Co
      Shochiku Company
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      Japanese
      Release Date (Theaters)
      May 8, 2009, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Jan 25, 2017
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $13.6K
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