In Kore-eda’s latest domestic drama, Ryota (Hiroshi Abe), a novelist who struck it big with his first tome, struggles to come to terms with being estranged from his wife (Kirin Kiki) and child, a gambling addiction, and the fact that he’s not finishing his second book. Further complicating his writers’ block and overall malaise, the private detective work Ryota had taken on as research has settled into being a part of his day-to-day existence. After the Storm is a deftly told, intergenerational story about change, loss, and what it is to begin picking up the pieces after one’s life has fallen apart. “No filmmaker today is watching ordinary human life more closely than Kore-eda, or is more unfailingly generous with what they find.”—Robbie Collin, The Telegraph. In Japanese with English subtitles.
Reviews: Reverse Shot, The Village Voice, Cinema Scope, Desistfilm
Interviews: Interview with Hirokazu Kore-eda in The Japan Times
Filmography: Like Father, Like Son (2013), Still Walking (2008), Nobody Knows (2004), After Life (1998), Maborosi (1995)