Directed by Yôji Yamada
Japan • 2014 • 136 mins. • In Japanese
When Takeshi’s unmarried great-aunt Taki passes away, he goes to her house with his family to help clean up her belongings. There, they discover a memoir that Taki had been writing, documenting her experiences as housemaid for the well-to-do Hirai family during World War II. Compelled to learn more about his great-aunt, Takeshi begins to read. As he does, he discovers the source of the regret and sadness that Taki had taken with her to the grave. “In the masterful hands of Yamada, this simple tale of family secrets and scandalous love triangles, adapted from a best-selling novel by Kyoko Nakamura, is a gorgeously art-directed melodrama that reveals a domestic side of nationalistic Japan rarely seen on screen.”—Japan Times.
Genres: Drama, Historical
Appears in: 38th Portland International Film Festival