OUR LITTLE SISTER
Director: Hirokazu Koreeda
Cast: Haruka Ayase, Kaho, Masami Nagasawa, Suzu Hirose
Rating: (M)
Three and a half stars (out of five)
They squabble, as all sisters do, but love and trust each other to an unusual degree.
Their father left when the youngest Chike (Kaho) was very young and, unable to cope with the responsibility of raising three children alone, their mother ran away as well.
Their grandparents helped out, but Sachi (Haruka Ayase) the eldest brought them up as much as anyone.
Our Little Sister (Rialto) begins with news of the father's death.
Begrudgingly they make the long journey to the backwater village where he ended his days.
He had married twice since leaving the family and Suzu (Suzu Hirose), the child from the middle marriage, meets them at the station.
The funeral is an ordeal but they are all struck by how mature the teenager is.
Almost on a whim Sachi offers to take Suzu in and Suzu, who was facing a grim future under the care of an indifferent stepmother, joyfully accepts.
Bringing their half-sister into their lives works incredibly well as Suzu is a paragon teenager who never once even slams a door.
Our Little Sister is a movie of small moments that never seem to build to anything as you are watching, but each exquisite scene that replays in your mind after the film seems to contain an "ah-ha moment'' that gives you a deeper understanding of the women and their differing characters.