Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Salubfoto It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

pinokiyo This is your typical example of "The Emperor's New Clothes"If you have better and more important things to do, this is not a film to watch. You're really not missing anything by skipping this film. It's one of those sleeper films that you'd play during midnight and eventually fall asleep to. Don't get me wrong, I was actually excited to watch this, but I mean seriously, somebody has to speak out the truth -- this is really just your average movie where nothing really happens. So it has a cute cast, especially Suzu Hirose, and it's by a well known acclaimed director (seems where most of the bias is coming from), but there's no real suspense/drama/conflict or anything. It's just like another overrated film "Linda Linda Linda", where nothing really happens, but people seem to love it just because of the girls.One might argue, "Well, it's showing the real life day in the life of that Hollywood can never make!" Well, of course they won't make something like this because it's just simply boring; just showing sisters taking care of each other is absolutely boring. (I mean, honestly, I don't care for Hollywood blockbuster/action films/especially all the superhero movies either, I'm obviously not expecting that, but I also watch a lot of foreign/Japanese films and this really is overrated stuff.) Sure, to a foreigner, just seeing the countryside location taking place in Kamakura, Japan, and random bike riding scenes under the cherry blossoms is all beautiful and all, but that's all superficial. Where's the story? Too many Weeaboos, or people exclusively watching this at film festivals, overpraising this film than what it really is.

WILLIAM FLANIGAN Our Little Sister / Sea Town Diary (Lit.). Viewed on DVD. Subtitles/translations = ten (10) stars; cinematography = eight (8) stars; music = seven (7) stars. Director Hirokazu Koreeda's feel-good Kamakura tale of three long-abandoned sisters (their father left 15 years ago, their mother moved to Hokkaido and last visited 14 years ago) living in their deceased grandmother's house unexpectedly discovering a much younger paternal half sister at their father's funeral. Since the three sisters have pretty much had to learn to raise themselves (under the watchful eye of a great aunt?), they feel qualified to raise the De Facto foundling. Koreeda is credited as being a screen writer and the editor. The Director under delivers on plot possibilities. Engaging emotional highs and lows are mostly among the missing. The scenario seems tinged with an aura of artificiality (it appears to lack, well, a real "sisters' touch"). Actress Suzu Hirose plays the "little" sister. While her performance is very good, she appears to be too old to play a coming-of-age teenager (the other three lead actress also seem a bit too old for their roles). Editing leaves some rough edges especially when intended scene sequences are abruptly terminated. Cinematography (semi-wide screen, color) and lighting are excellent except for an overexposed, inconsequential exterior scene that should have been re-shot or cut. Score is fine. Sound fields are okay. Subtitles and translations are outstanding. Dialog subtitles are close to being spot on. Writing and signs are translated. All closing credits are also translated--a rarity in Japanese films. Congratulations to the producers! An above average chick flick. Recommended. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

Janos Gereben With all the brutality in the world - and in many movie theaters as well - Hirokazu Koreeda's films bring relief and pleasure. The Japanese director focuses on families and children, but his work is free of cutesiness, overt sentimentality, never taking the easy way to the victory of good over evil or cheap happy ending. His latest is "Our Little Sister" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3756788/) getting its US release on July 8, 2016, and to be seen in the San Francisco Bay Area beginning July 15. It is a heartwarming, but eminently realistic story of three young-adult sisters living together in a seaside town south of Tokyo. The "little sister" of the title is a 13-year-old half sister they adopt meeting her for the first time at the funeral of their long-estranged father.Kore-eda reveals family memories, secrets, connections, conflicts - maintaining constant interest in the story, but keeping clear of soap-opera characteristics, and gradually increasing sympathy for the film's characters, certainly for the four young women, but also the rest of the large cast, even the easy-to-dislike absent (and quirky) mother, appearing near the end of the film and becoming a key player in a central conflict. "Our Little Sister" is just as gripping and memorable as Kore-eda's best: "Nobody Knows," "Still Walking," "Like Father, Like Son," and "I Wish" - all humanistic, character-oriented films that integrate entertainment, wisdom, and a positive philosophy... all low-key and subtle. Kore-eda is the Chekhov of cinema - without Russian sadness and pessimism. "Our Little Sistem" is based on Akimi Yoshida's "Umimachi Diary." Both the manga and the film emphasize the physical and social environment, even while focusing on the four women and their relationships within and without the family. Sachi (Ayase Haruka), Yoshino (Masami Nagasawa) and Chika (Kaho) are the three sisters, three established, skillful actresses, the two older ones elegant and attractive; Kaho is quirky, but just as good- natured as the others. Hiroshi is a relative newcomer, giving an eminently believable performance as the orphan teenager, even though the actress was about 22 when the film was made. Whimsical, moving acts of goodness are set in an environment of reality, including conflict, illness, even death, and in the end, there is a typical Kore-eda mild catharsis, nothing forced or dictated, just allowing the audience to share in "pretty good lives."

themadmovieman This is by no means a simple watch, but it's a hugely pleasant one. Our Little Sister is a perfect example of how a slow, calm and natural film can pull you in so much deeper than something big and loud, with fantastic performances, beautiful directing, brilliant dialogue and an emotionally impressive, but never melodramatic story.The most striking thing about this film is the directing. It's all very understated, but the director is so brilliant at giving you staggeringly beautiful vistas of the countryside landscape of Japan. It never takes over what's happening in the story, but the way that the natural world is presented in this film is so special, and makes it an absolute joy to watch.The performances are great too. Again, with a very quiet and understated story, the actors all do a fantastic job at providing interesting drama and engaging character development, which makes the slow pacing of this film feel almost invisible, as you're able to be pulled in so effectively by the very human, realistic performances, which was so impressive to see.And that ability to create a realistic drama continues in the film's dialogue. The performances are all fantastic, but without the brilliantly-written dialogue, that feels so natural and real, this film may not have been as brilliantly engrossing as it is. Luckily, however, every line is so well-crafted, and fits so well with whatever's going on on screen, that you become totally immersed in this film as if you're right there taking part in these conversations.This is effectively a 'slice of life' drama, where we're not getting an over-the-top, cinematic melodrama, but one that just peers into some people's lives, and makes a compelling story out of it.That's true for a lot of the film, and I definitely enjoyed following the brilliant plot here, but if there is one complaint that I do have with Our Little Sister, it lies within the way the story is told. Understated films are fantastic, and shouldn't be overlooked, but in this film, I felt as if it was just a little too quiet in its opening stage to get you fully up to speed with what's going on.Don't get me wrong, the calm nature of the film is beautiful for the most part, but for the first twenty minutes or so, I did feel a little lost with the characters' various backgrounds and relationships due to little early exposition, which made for an occasionally frustrating watch at the beginning.Overall, however, Our Little Sister is a wonderful film, and it uses understated drama in a brilliantly realistic and immersive way, helped further by great performances and fantastic directing.