Don’t be a humanities major in Japan

After the Storm (d. Hirokazu Kore-eda)

I want a clearer stance from the film whether it’s one’s personality or one’s time that shapes their material and psychological destinies. And if it has to do with the material conditions of a time period, I want the criticism to be sharper. Is our handsome protagonist a ne’er-do-well or is it also because his society can not tolerate outliers like the literary type. The typhoon doesn’t sweep any of the ambiguities away. It’s the usual finely observed humane film that Kore-Eda keeps delivering but I do wonder if his international success has to do with his (intentional I would argue) not-so-pointed critique of Japanese patriarchal and capitalist society which he further waters down with sentimental moments and unpredictable (natural) catastrophes. There is no confronting the Woman Question that rigidifes and shapes the lives of women. The film sort of deals with this but never at the root cause: outdated gender thinking. Perhaps this is why we need Japanese female directors too.

#2019 #106