After The Storm [Blu-ray]

Affectionate

A very good film, with excellent acting. At the same time I found it somewhat downbeat with an almost inevitably disappointing ending. It is about marital breakdown.The Dad is addicted to gambling and his ex-wife is quite understandably fed up with him. They have a young son. The ex-wife is visiting the son's paternal grandmother when her ex-husbad turns up. A typhoon is coming and the paternal grandmother manages to persuade her ex-daughter-in-law to stay the night. The actress playing the paternal grandmother is excellent.The Dad still loves his ex-wife, and maybe the ex-wife wouldn't mind getting back together again either despite being in a new relationship, and the paternal grandmother does her best to get the ex-daughter-in-law to go back to her son, but you just know that with the underlying problem of the gambling unresolved the Dad simply isn't marriageable. Alcoholics aren't marriageable. Drug addicts aren't marriageable. Gambling addicts aren't marriageable.On one level, the gambling addict Dad makes for a good film. There are humourous moments, particularly when looking for money and valuable things in effect to steal from his Mum, but it is also something of a sad, depressing, film, which ends on a low note with the Dad taking a valuable item surreptitiously from his Mum's flat which belonged to his deceased Dad, getting a substantial sum for it, and failing to pay his child maintenance despite clearly having enough money to pay it, and failing to account for the money to either his Mum or his sister, and although the film ends at that point, somehow you just know that the next step is him using the money to bet on the horses again.So, yes, the film is worth buying and watching, but uplifting it definitely isn't.

A warm story with strong characters, but don’t expect any excitement. A touch too subtle.

Overall I really enjoyed After the Storm. The direction was generally exquisite with real sensitivity shown to the situation and the characters and there are a couple of stand out performances. There's some great set pieces with one especially tragi-comic scene involving a typhoon, some lottery tickets and lots of running around. Just one factor made a 4 star into a 3 star: I felt Hiroshi Abe, although giving an entirely competent performance, was just too handsome and 'clean cut' to be completely convincing in the central role

Having watched and thoroughly enjoyed such masterpieces as "The Departed", "Sweet bean paste (An)" and "Still walking" I found this movie a bit boring, despite excellent actors. This is a story about a typical "average man" who failed to achieve anything meaningful in life, He is divorced, struggles to pay child support and has very little to look forward to. One stormy night he and his ex-wife happen to be trapped together in his mother's house. But true to life, nothing happens, all stays the same and the characters all go their separate ways. Very realistic but very uninspiring.

A writer suffers from a broken marriage and loss of inspiration. Lack of means and feelings of worthlessness hinder any recovery. The story is rather bleak but the characters are sympathetic and there is a slight hope at the end.

Wonderfully observed as ever - a window into lives lived in Japan

An exploration of how we are more like our parents than we care to admit, and that our flaws are passed on to our children, as well as our seeds of brilliance. A really fascinating and subtle gem