The everlasting regret of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s pensive family drama. By STEVE GARDEN.

THE TITLE of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new film reflects the formal qualities of the work as much as the thematic and philosophic ones. With its natural rhythms and locked-off static cinematography (apart from one telling shot near the end), Still Walking is indeed very still, with the pace of a gentle summer stroll. Kore-eda paints with delicate brushstrokes, but beneath the surface serenity lies unresolved grief (a common theme in Kore-eda’s work), which is of course accompanied by a poisonous concoction of disappointment, betrayal, contempt, unfulfilled expectations, lack of self-worth, bitterness and anger. As one character desperately puts it, it’s just normal family life!

Despite the dramatic seriousness, Still Walking is (like life, I guess) an intermittently amusing film. The dysfunction is palpable, but the convincing humanity of the script and performances ensures that the film never slips into Bergmanesque Sturm und Drang. Another character laments that we can’t predict or control how our children will turn out. Those who are familiar with the films of Yasujiro Ozu will recognise the line immediately, and it’s only one of many indications that Still Walking is strongly influenced by the great Japanese master – without a doubt! While Kore-eda’s film is sure to resonate with Ozu-philes, this is no slavish imitation or wan homage. Like the equally great Hou Hsiao-hsien (another filmmaker influenced by Ozu), Kore-eda’s individual voice is always impressively to the fore.

Despite obvious differences, there is an interesting parallel between Still Walking and Olivier Assayas’s Summer Hours (also showing in the festival). Both are set in a family home during the summer months; both use objects and interiors to potent effect; and both involve three generations of a family dealing with difficult, almost uncontrollable dynamics. Kore-eda’s film is by far the more poetic, and (I predict) the one most likely to find a long-term home among the masterpieces of world cinema.