In Japanese with English & Chinese Subtitles
Genre: Drama
Director: Norihiro Koizumi
Cast: Yû Aoi, Ryo Kase, Yuko Takeuchi, Rena Tanaka, Yukie Nakama, Kyoka Suzuki, Ryoko Hirosue, Takao Osawa, Yoshihiko Inohara, Junichi Komoto
RunTime: 1 hr 50 mins
Released By: GV
Rating: PG
Official Website: http://flowers-movie.jp/

Opening Day: 4 November 2010

Synopsis:

Spring 1936. Rin (Yu Aoi) is about to be wed to a man she’s never met, arranged by her stern father according to traditional custom. Having graduated from girls’ school, she’s a progressive thinker, and harbors doubts about the restrictive life of a woman in her time. Distraught at a decision that wasn’t hers, and uncertain about the groom she’s never met, Rin runs away on her wedding day, still dressed in her bridal outfit…

Summer in the 1960s. Rin has three grown daughters. The eldest, Kaoru (Yuko Takeuchi), tries to recover from the trauma of losing her husband to a car accident, while the second daughter, Midori (Rena Tanaka), is a feminist wavering between her professional career and the prospect of marriage. The youngest, Sato (Yukie Nakama), has a heart condition, and braces for her own death as she prepares to give birth to her second child. The journeys of the three women are set against the backdrop of the rapid economic growth of postwar Japan.

It’s winter in the present day. Sato’s elder daughter, Kana (Kyoka Suzuki), has moved to Tokyo to pursue her dream of becoming a pianist, but must come to terms with her shortcomings as well as a pregnancy with a man who’d just dumped her. The younger daughter, Kei (Ryoko Hirosue), is married with a child, and always wears a smile. There’s a reason for her cheerful exuberance, though—she’s determined to live for the mother she had never met.

From Rin’s runaway in 1936 to Kana’s decision in the present day, Flowers depicts the precious moments of strong, noble women in a saga spanning three generations.

Movie Review:

A combined effort of male director Norihiro Koizumi and male ad-agency creative director Takuya Onuki (he conceived the film’s idea while working on a female shampoo commercial), it is not hard for the thinking girl to dismiss Flowers as an indulgent and idealistic patriarchal take on Japanese femininity. The title itself – a stereotypical image associated with being female. It does not help either that the problems that the six women face are either related to men or motherhood. From a forced marriage to fatal pregnancy complications to the loss of the newly wedded husband, tragic events not out of place in a soap opera plot seem to curse three generations of beautiful women. Through soft lingering gazes into the windy distance and solo teardrops on SK II-treated cheeks, they express minimal pain like ideal, perfectly restrained, silent Japanese women.

Now girls, (depending on which feminist wave you are riding on) before you start burning or pushing up your bras and objecting to the lack of girl power, do consider that the film’s subscription to feminine stereotypes is intended to portray the significance of family over self. The real struggle that the six women face is not of tragedy, but with choosing between self-expression and self-control or individualism and collectivism – something everyone can relate to. By portraying six different yet interconnected lives all choosing the self-sacrificing route and going back to the family as a point of healing, the film really tries to remind us of the importance of kinship. The story of Rin – the family’s first generation woman – is particularly touching in its conclusion. Set in the 30s, she is faced with the traditional arranged marriage dilemma – please her father or please her self? You have to watch for yourself how she decides, but do prepare Kleenex at hand. In fact, that tissue paper is necessary in a few other scenes as well even though the film is not really a tearjerker. What Flowers considerably is, is a heartwarming chick flick, albeit a quite welcoming one in a genre filled with the same old storyline of predictable heroines finding love and living happily ever after. Its message of family is something to ponder upon. The film might go too much by telling six different stories to drive home the point, but maybe this is something we need to counter excessive individualism in today’s Facebook-obsessed society.

The montage quality of the film is easily appealing; as it not only allows the audience to make distinct three generations of characters, but to also let them enjoy the homage to past filming styles. As the film spans among four time periods – 1930s, 1960s, 1970s and early 2000s – each of them is directed according to the film style of the respective eras. The 1960s story of one of Rin’s daughters – Midori – is probably the most enjoyable with its throwback to a comical retro sound stage vibe and vintage clothes.

Movie Rating:



(If you can repress your feminist instinct and whip out some Kleenex, you might enjoy the feel good stories on family)

Reviewed by Siti Nursyafiqa