I’m going to talk about one of my favourite wholesome movies of all time - Umimachi Diary (海街diary) - anglicised as Our Little Sister, but actually meaning Seaside Town Diary. I’m going to pepper this post with screenshots from the movie - they might not have any particular importance or relevance to what I’m writing, they are just scenes from the movie. I saw this movie in 2019, and such has been the impact of it on me that I have found myself thinking about it from time to time. There are days when my affinity for it is so much that I have to listen to its soundtrack or watch clips for the movie.
Directed by the esteemed Hirokazu Koreeda, Our Little Sister is a story of three sisters (eventually four) who finds out their dad has had another child during his funeral and asks their step-sister to come live with them. The story has nothing much to it, in terms of things happening, as is characteristic of many Japanese media, but the real attraction is the charm with which things are told. Koreeda has this unique ability to notice the little things and find charm in the mundane. The camera is often set at a distance, and it allows the scene to play out and the characters to be themselves. There are no fast cuts, there are pauses, silences and sounds of nature or just sounds of chopsticks and cutlery hitting the plates. This is as close to experiencing the lives of other people as I have been, and it’s all due to Koreeda’s absolute mastery of not letting anything getting in the way of the scene and its immersion.
Now, a movie with just four sisters living out their lives sounds a bit boring, but this movie deceptively has so much more. It is a movie about life, about living with grief, about redemption, about forgiveness, and about being kind, among many others. And there are so many little joyful titbits - pickling plum, playing soccer, eating at a local diner where everyone you know hangs out, cycling through a trove of cherry blossom, of the four sisters being there for each other in the most mundane of situations and also during situations of stress. It made me yearn for a simpler life, and made me yearn for siblings. And in a way, it made me feel less lonely. And that’s an amazing achievement for a piece of media.
Suzu (the step-sister) is a quiet child, just like me, and she finds unconditional love and the space to flourish and find herself in the movie. The other girls are also dealing with their own issues, and some of those issues are unsolvable, but at the end of the day they have each other, and they are supportive of each other no matter how much they have argued. Looking back at it, it is as much a coming-of-age movie as it is a slice-of-life about people dealing with their issues. And it is beautifully done.
Any appreciation of Umimachi Diary is incomplete without a note about its soundtrack. Composed by the unparalleled Yoko Kanno, who’s famous for her Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, it is a collection of such beautiful creations. The soundtrack swells with emotions, during the right times, and sinks to bare adornment during moments of tension. It is masterfully done, and even though I itch to write that it is the perfect compliment to the story, I feel like it is one of the main players in the movie. My love for Umimachi Diary would not be as profound if not for the beautiful soundtrack, and the movie itself would be significantly less impactful it the soundtrack didn’t accompany it. Here’s my favourite composition from the soundtrack - track 2, named eponymously.
I also feel like I’d be doing it a disservice if I were too descriptive of the movie and my feelings towards it. I think it has an universal appeal, but it is also one of those movies which will touch you for your own personal reasons. I can guarantee you, you will not regret spending two hours with the movie, with the characters, with the small rural Japanese town that is captured so beautifully that it really wants me to visit rural Japan.
So yeah, just go watch it. And if you feel moved and feel like discussing about it, the comments are always open. I’m ready at any time to talk about this movie. It is so close to my heart, that recommending this movie feels like trusting someone with a piece of me. It is a joyous, profound experience.