Aruitemo aruitemo (Still Walking)
Here is what director Kore-Eda Hirokazu says of his inspiration for making Aruitemo aruitemo (Still Walking) (2008): “In the past five or six years I lost both my parents.  As an ungrateful eldest son who used the demands of his profession to excuse my long absences from home, I find myself troubled by regrets, to this day.  ‘If only I'd been more...’ - ‘Why did I say that then...’ Still Walking is a film launched by the experience of regret that we all share.”

Quintessentially Japanese, but at the same time universal, Still Walking is a couple of hours that represent 24 hours in the life of an extended family.  Grandparents, middle-aged children, and grandchildren spend a good amount of the time enjoying Grandma's cooking.  But Tampopo (1986) this is not.  It's much more akin to Un dimanche à la campagne (A Sunday In the Country) (1984) by Bertrand Tavernier.

We all know that family reunions can be stressful, and the Yokoyama family's anniversary for a missing member is no different.  You don't choose your family, and they don't choose their in-laws, and what do you have in common after all these years apart anyway?

Actually, for those who fear having to keep up with subtitles, dialogue is minimal, and often the silences are equally eloquent.  Though this is in an ordinary house in a pleasant seaside town and not a cramped Tokyo salary man's apartment, the occidental viewer does come away with an appreciation of our more generous interior spaces.A

Austria hails Cannes heroes as trophy cabinet bulges

The Austrians rampaged through the Cannes Festival this year, running away with two major awards.

VIENNA - Top honours for two Austrians at the Cannes festival were proof that the country's movie industry has become a force to be reckoned with internationally, politicians and film professionals said this week.

"The award ceremony in Cannes is an impressive success for Austrian filmmakers," Culture Minister Claudia Schmied said after the wins were announced Sunday night.

Austrian actor Christoph Waltz received the festival's best actor award for his performance in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds, while director Michael Haneke took home the coveted Palme d'Or for his film The White Ribbon.

The wins made it "more than clear that the Austrian film industry is a vital sector with great potential for the future," added Vice-Chancellor and Economy Minister Josef Proell.

"The victorious run of our home-grown film industry continues with today's triumph," Schmied added.

Austrian cinema scored its biggest win ever last year with a best foreign picture Oscar for Stefan Ruzowitzky's The Counterfeiters.

And this year again, an Austrian film, Revanche by Goetz Spielmann, was nominated in the same category.

Reacting to the Cannes awards, the Austrian Film Institute, which provides funding, spoke of "a further highlight in a wave of success".

"Austrian cinema is alive as never before and is making incredible achievements," its director, Roland Teichmann, said.
The Austrian Film Commission, which promotes Austrian cinema abroad, added it was "incredibly proud".

Award-winner Haneke told the Austrian Press Agency himself in Cannes: "Two Palmes for Austrians this year, that's wicked!"
But while welcoming his colleague's "much-deserved accolade", Ruzowitzky warned: "We have to be careful about depicting this as a triumph for Austrian film, rather it is evidence of where Austrian politicians have failed."

The Culture Minister has already called for further funding for the Austrian film industry.

AFP/Expatica