MEDIA: Film Review –

March 12, 2020 – We first meet our heroine, Saki Tadokoro, as a young girl running down a steep river bank to greet her soused father (Kiyohiko Shibukawa) who is partying with his baseball teammates. Midway she launches into the air and flies in slow motion toward his arms. This dreamlike image becomes the film’s central metaphor: Saki trusts her dad to catch her, which he does, but the look on his face is one of distress, not delight. Drinking, we soon see, is his Get Out Of Fatherhood card.

It’s also a bonding ritual with clients and a social lubricant with friends, but unlike the people he clinks glasses with, Toshifumi Tadokoro is an alcoholic. One sip leads to another and, hours later, he’s passed out in the genkan again.

@JapanTimes