Long, But Powerful

The story starts out with a mother and son moving into a new apartment, and all seems normal. The mother is cute and funny, and the son is smart and helpful. But as the story unfolds, you learn that there are two younger children safely hiding in suitcases. And yet later, an older daughter waiting at the train station until after dark to sneak in. Not having read anything about this movie before, I loved the way things came to light slowly, naturally without it being served to us on a platter. And the movie has much more to give, and the watcher much more to learn. Later in the movie, however, things begin to drag. The movie does do an excellent job of creating a mood, and for those who have never been to Japan it does an excellent job of showing a real Japanese neighborhood. But prepared to have these things done slowly and without rhythm.

5/10