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Hana (2006)
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Movie review
From Time Out London
. Don’t go to ‘Hana’ expecting a samurai film. Yes, it’s set in the Edo period, and touches on the famous 47 Ronin… it even hinges on a young samurai’s quest to avenge his murdered father. But the young man in question, Aoki (Okado) has neither the heart nor the skill to pursue what he appreciates is a futile gesture. Instead he bides his time in the tenement, hoping to catch the eye of the pretty widow Osae (Miyazawa). Around this beguilingly passive hero Kore-eda parades a motley crew of comical human detritus, very much in the spirit of Kurosawa’s ‘The Lower Depths’. It’s a low-key charmer, a little short on laughs perhaps, but a definitive critique of the samurai code.Author: Tom Charity
Time Out London Issue 1888: October 25-November 1
Cast & crew
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
Cast: Junichi Yagi, Rie Miyazawa, Tadanobu Asano, Susumu Terajima
Genre(s): Drama
Duration: 128 mins
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