38/25
Tale
Tatsuo and his daughter Haru run the Takano Tofu shop in Onomichi
When Tatsuo discovers he is ill, he worries that his daughter will be left alone, and unknowingly sets out to find Haru a match. While the plot could (and has) filled many a family drama, here comes the magnetic presence of veteran Tatsuya Fuji (Empire of the Senses), the…
Director/writer Mitsuhiro Mihara’s tearful 2023 father-daughter drama is a little too bold to compare favorably to Yasujiro Ozu’s classic family dramas
Read more. In a story centered on Tatsuo, an aging tofu master from Onomichi, and his devoted daughter Haru, Mihara clearly channels Ozu’s “Late Spring” and “Early Summer” in capturing the specifics of their close relationship.
The clownish moments felt like a different film than the one intended
The plot unfolds as each eventually finds potential matches, but not until a requisite number of comedic scenes with common characters are played out quite broadly. However, screen veteran Tatsuya Fuji plays Tatsuo with madcap enthusiasm, while Kumiko Aso provides thoughtful assistance as Haru.
For a similarly sensuous film about the art behind the unique Japanese food, I suggest watching Naomi Kawase’s 2015 “An (Sweet Bean)”
Fuji’s scenes with Kumi Nakamura as a sick elderly woman were touching, though the A-bomb connections felt designed to inject more pathos into the film.
