In ¡°A Family,¡± director Michihito Fujii¡¯s original script combines a yakuza actioner with a family drama. This is not the oil-and-water mix it might seem to be ¡ª after all, the ¡°Godfather¡± films are also about family, despite the high body counts.
Absent in ¡°The Godfather,¡± however, is the over-the-top sentimentalism that is endemic to the family drama genre in Japan, Fujii¡¯s film included. The difference is due to directorial and cultural sensibility and, if you¡¯re being cynical, box-office calculation. The list of Japanese dramas that became hits by targeting their audience¡¯s tear ducts is long.
Is that the case with ¡°A Family,¡± though? Fujii made his critical and commercial breakthrough in 2019 with ¡°The Journalist,¡± an award-winning hit that was daring in its critique of current Japanese politics. A manipulative hack he is not.
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