![]() The switched kids, now 6-years-old, reflect their respective upbringing in their "adopted" (involuntarily) families. The other set of parents is more grass-root: father a small shop owner, a handyman good at repairing broken things and the mother a fast food server well-equipped with worldly common sense. ![]() One comprises a middle-class go-getter corporate achiever father and a mother who came originally from a more humble a rural background but has since turned middle-class. ![]() The two sets of parents are in two different social sectors. hovering over the heads of the children incessantly), social class disparity, relationship with the older generation, just to name a few. In addition, it also touches on familiar issues of today that are not unique to Japan but have a global relevance: "helicopter" parents (i.e. The devastating impact on the two sets of parents is handled in this movie in a reflective, low key manner. I cannot remember the subject matter being explored by another movie, globally speaking: two boys born simultaneously in the same hospital switched in a careless mistake, with the unfortunate incident discovered six years later. Written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, this movie carries on with his gentle, easy style of story-telling. The situation portrayed is every parent's nightmare, and the film succeeds in conveying that, while also mining a deep vein of humanity and compassion, and even managing a few comic flourishes. Machiko Ono and Yôko Maki as the two wives who support each other are equally impressive. The fact that he is never shown suffering over the loss of his own biological son, and yet seems imbued with the humanity Ryota lacks, is testament to Furanki's performance and Koreeada' scripting and helming. At first he seems more concerned with financial gain than natural justice, but slowly proves himself to be the better father. Rirî Furankî is exceptional as electrician handyman Yudai. He learns not only to love, but to accept, and even, in one phone call to his stepmother, to repent. Four parents go through this traumatic experience, but while the gravity of the situation for the other three parents is never in doubt, the journey we experience is Ryota's. The other element is judicious deployment of point-of-view. There is a similar moment when Ryota confronts his tormentor, only for her young son to appear and remind Ryota of the kind of son he should have been himself. When Ryota tries to explain to his biological son that he now should be addressing him as 'father', the stubborn, implacable resistance of the young actor is deftly played. One is the sparkling, naturalistic performances from the children. ![]() Two archetypal elements of on-form Koreeda make this move a masterclass in dramaturgy. One word - 'yappari' - reveals his disappointment and ultimate lack of humanity, and proves to be a pivotal statement in his journey to self-awareness. Fukuyama as the driven, high-achieving Ryota is a revelation, an advocate of the tough love school of child-rearing, who never wastes an opportunity to tell his son he should be trying harder, succeeding more. Koreda has one again taken his scalpel to family life and crafted a masterpiece. In trying to solve this unholy mess, one father has to face his own vulnerabilities. Two families learn the devastating news that their sons were swapped in the maternity hospital, and each has been raising the other's biological offspring for the last six years. ![]()
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