lasttimeisaw
LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON, a switch-at-birth family drama, concocted at the hands of Japanese auteur Hirokazu Koreeda, this Cannes Jury Prize winner, unsurprisingly, is a slow-burn heart-warmer that transmutes its dramatic ethical selling point into an illuminating lesson of how to better oneself as a father. Two families, the Nonomiyas and the Saikis, elitist versus plebeian, find their respective six-year-old sons are switched at birth in the hosptial, and face the ineluctably tectonic decision of whether switching back their kids or remaining the status quo. Forgoing an even-steven tactic, Koreeda unyieldingly sets the focus point in the Nonomiya family, namely the father Ryoto (Fukuyama), an aspiring corporate employee, living with his meek wife Midori (Ono) and their son Keita (Ninomiya, a doe-eyed cutie) in an anonymous high-rise apartment, whose winner-takes-it-all precept conforms to the mainstream values of our contemporary world, not to mention the cutting-edge Japanese society, where independence and impersonality strike sharp in contrast with populace's overt superficial courtesy. It is a ghost of relief upon receiving the earth-shattering tidings that betrays Ryoto's mild disappointment in Keita's quiet make-up, and a schism with Midori (who confesses that Keita's tender personality takes after her) materializes but never over-boiled. Like father, like son, Koreeda perceptively burrows into the cause and effect pattern through Ryoto's father Ryosuke (Natsuyagi, who passed away shortly before the film's premier in 2013), whose broken marriage and bloodline-first attitude allude to Ryoto's own upbringing, and point up the film's most valuable message: a defiance to the patriarchal conformity. On the other side of bargain is the easy-going Saiki family, Yudai (Franky) and Yukai (Maki), who runs a small store and have 3 kids, Ryusei (Hwang), their oldest son, is actually Ryoto and Midori's biological son. Although Koreeda allocates less time for them, yet it is understandable, because there is no major sea change is instigated (save the initial shock of course), they have no discrimination between the two boys, welcoming Keita as well as respecting Ryoto's decision of swapping, first tentatively only on Saturdays, then a permanent one. The classism undertow is smolderingly approached, and slowly gives way to mutual resignation, until tacit admiration when the Saikis' more organic, spending-your-time-with-your-kids philosophy gets the better of Ryoto.Koreeda is a sublime maestro who can patiently elicit a profound humbleness out of his workaday story and disarming cast, on the strength of his meticulously orchestrated compositions and lights, more often than not, in company with consummate music choices, LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON is no exception, star Masaharu Fukuyama staggeringly sheds his pop-idol halo and puts his internal conflict through an empathetic wringer, and even during the mawkish crunch (that camera revelation) a priori, he is compelling enough to register an understated catharsis which sustains the film's high potency of compassion and restraint. Lily Franky makes for a perfect counterexample as Yudai, holds his own against a snooty Ryoto and engages an unstrained chemistry with the kid actors, but never flaunts his contentment in the latter's face. The interactions between two wives are less definitive, but Maki makes her mark in establishing Yukai as a pillar in the household, not an appendage to her husband. Finally, apropos of the sensitive treatment of the motive behind the swapping, Koreeda eschews any conspiracy theory or accident, but plumps for a more chilling spur-of-the-moment act goaded by the green-eyed monster, a pungent grace note scrupulously reminds us the miasma festering in today's modern society.
sol-
Learning that his biological son was swapped at birth and that his six-year-old son is not actually his own, an affluent workaholic is torn between whether or not to swap sons with the other family in this Japanese drama from Hirokazu Koreeda. While it is hard to understand why both families would be in favour of a swap, the whole situation works well as wake-up call for our protagonist, played by Masaharu Fukuyama, to realise the importance of spending quality time with his son away from work. He is also humbled in his outlook on the world. Initially, Fukuyama is deterred by the other family's working class background and their desire to make a small fortune out of suing the hospital, but as the film progress, both us as viewers and Fukuyama come to realise that the other father, played by Rirî Furankî, is fun-loving very caring. In fact, his initial interest in getting rich is soon (awkwardly) pushed to the side. There is, however, room to wonder whether the film would have benefited from more focus on the boys themselves and their perspective on what is happening, though there is admittedly an interesting irony at play in how Fukuyama keeps saying that he would be able to provide better for both boys (he even shockingly considers taking both at one point) and yet he never really thinks about the real impact on the two children. Whatever the case, everything spirals towards a powerful dénouement and while the ending might seem happy on face value, there is a bitter-sweetness to it too. Will any of them ever be the same after their experiences?
Sergeant_Tibbs
One of my most anticipated films of 2013, I haven't taken longer to watch a film I couldn't wait for at one point. It was certainly worth watching, though not the masterpiece I expected. Like Father, Like Son's hook comes from the fact that this is a real moral dilemma Japanese families have to deal with. It's something very specific to Japanese culture and the film digs deep into how sacred bloodlines are. The film is surprisingly soft in its approach, mostly focusing on the contrast between the two fathers. Hirokazu Koreeda toes a very fine line between naturalism and sentimentality but is ultimately deeply human, provoking both thought and emotion. Ideas of fatherhood are basic to cinema, but Koreeda envelopes it here without feeling derivative.8/10
alpaca25
This movie makes me consider a lot of things.Ryota, Midori and Keita live a happy life but a phone call tells them a shocking news.I thought how strong children are. The mistake of children is not allowed and it is unbelievable.If I was the child of other family, I want to live with the family which grows me for a long time. Which is important that the time they live together or the relation by blood is really complex question.The gap between two family makes this movie more interesting.The climax scene is a little bit difficult for me, but thanks for this movie, I thought about my family deeply for the first time.
