Survival Family

I fully expected this film to be a moronic, preposterous and irritating comedy. So, you can imagine my surprise when it turns out that this is actually a properly good film. Yes, it's a silly, light- hearted comedy, but it's massively funny from start to finish, and nowhere near as annoying as I anticipated. However, beyond that, its concept makes for a genuinely interesting watch that provides so much more brains and drama than I could have ever imagined from this film.

But before I go too mad with high praise for this film, let's start off with the humour. When it comes to the comedy here, it's by no means ingenious. The majority of the humour is either a series of silly running gags or various ridiculous mishaps that the family get into on their long voyage across Japan. And yet, as silly as it all is, it's all actually very funny.

Particularly in the first two acts, when everything is going wrong for a family thrust out of their technological world, the comedy works really well in tandem with the crazy nature of the story. Everything feels fantastically odd wherever you look, but that means that the crazier comedy is all the more appropriate, and as such all the more entertaining, leaving me with a big smile on my face and laughing again and again throughout.

Of course, another reason that the film is so funny is because of the performances. Whilst they're all very comical and exaggerated, the lead four actors work brilliantly together. The family dynamic is perfectly believable between each of them, and their various personas clashing throughout makes for some great laughs.

So, it's pretty clear that Survival Family is a great choice for a simple, light-hearted and funny watch. However, what really surprised me about the film is that it's actually got something more to give.

I didn't think much of Waterboys and Swing Girls, the two films I have seen from Shinobu Yaguchi before. Whilst one is a decent comedy and the other is just annoying, neither of them had a particularly interesting, let alone intelligent story.

That's why I was delighted to see that this film has actually got some brains. Behind all the comic madness, the story about the world in the immediate aftermath of an eternal power outage was actually really interesting to see. It's not a doom-and-gloom post-apocalyptic drama, nor is it overly preachy about our over-reliance on technology, but instead a film that takes an interesting concept and runs with it brilliantly throughout.

Touching on almost everything that would happen to the average person in such a situation, from the return of trading for food and water over the use of money to the desperate need to adapt to living without mechanical assistance, I was genuinely intrigued watching this scenario play out for two hours. The story of the family's relationship and bond growing is also a heartwarming and pleasant centre for the plot, but it's the way that the film realistically depicts how people would go about this sort of situation that really grabbed me.

Overall, I had an absolutely great time with Survival Family. I'm not going to forget that it is first and foremost a fun and light-hearted comedy, and so it proves with excellent laughs from start to finish and a fantastic lead quartet. However, what really makes it even better is how surprisingly interesting its story is, and the way in which it depicts a fascinating scenario.

I find this movie very funny and touching. The story line is very realistic when you compared with what happened in the supermarkets during the COVID 19 pandemic. This is one of the Best Movie I have ever seen! Remark: I bought a DVD

One of the most beautiful family films to show you how to unite family time of hardship this life bitter and sweet and full of emotions with a blending of comedy wonderful and admirable

"Survival Family" is a very memorable and unusual film. However, simply calling it a comedy is a mistake. While there are a few comedic moments, the overall tone is NOT funny and there is far more depth and heart to the movie than you'll find in a mere comedy.

The story begins in Tokyo. A very ordinary (for better or worse) are the focus of the movie...and their lives are turned upside down when all power, including battery power, instantly vanishes. Now, obtaining food, water and living their everyday lives is becoming impossible...and the family decides to head out to the country where the mother's parents live. But how to get there? Trains, cars and other conventional forms of transportation are useless...and they are forced to bicycle their way out of this hellish city. The film chronicles there very long, scary and incredibly dangerous trek.

The main thing I got out of this film was NOT comedy nor laughs. Instead, I really appreciated the way the filmmakers show us just how impossible most of our lives would be in this sort of situation...with a disintegration of social rules and mores. As a result, the story really makes you think....and most comedies are not concered with making us think...just laugh.

In addition to opening up the viewers' eyes, the film works well because of the lovely acting...and especially the writing and direction of Shinobu Yaguchi. He really did a marvelous job...and it left me wanting to see more of his movies. Well worth seeing...clever, heart-felt and, occasionally funny.

By the way, in order to understand the sorts of price gouging that occurs in the film, it helps to know the value of the yen. In US dollars, 100 yen are worth about $.89....making a bottle of bottled water, post-apocalypse, cost about $20 in the film.

Like many other reviewers, I expected this to be mediocre. But, don't let the simple (silly) title distract you. This movie is hilarious, with plenty of great twists, dramatic turns and character development of each family member. Few movies today realistically portray the challenges of dealing with teenagers, and this movie nails it, albeit Japanese-style. The simple theme of surviving without electricity is fantastic. Plus, there are subtle messages about the need to care for our environment! The family is challenged personally and physically, like a modern day Cast Away or Swiss Family Robinson.