Kondo wa aisaika

I sought this out because of how insanely iconic Hiroko Yakushimaru was in her 80s films, Sailor Suit, Legend of the 8 Samurai, Tragedy of W. She was a huge star and almost all her films just quickly hit #1 in the Japanese box office every year.

So I wanted to see how she is in a 2009 film. (Of course by now even this film is old.)

Here she is playing an eccentric wife going mad wanting a baby, and her marriage falling apart. The film focuses on the husbands subplots as well which are far less interesting. The movie has a low-fi Spanish Telenuovo feel and the pace is way too slow at over 2 hours, still it has a gentle spirit that resonates.

The best moments are with Hiroko. She is still cool. She is still as magical and interesting as in those films. She will never just play a line, she has to understand it with her whole mind and body. She absorbs everything and reflects it back to us. I have never really seen an actress who can do it like her.