Still Walking

A low turnout this week so maybe some people aren't too keen on Japanese crackers. And judging by the feedback forms, not everybody is. Out of 24 forms, 8 people rated it as A (excellent). There were 7 Bs (very good),  7 Cs (good) and 2 Ds (Average). The overall audience rating was 78%.


Newspaper reviews were pretty good. In Philip French's review (see link below), he  refers to Philip Larkin's poem “This Be The Verse”. Maybe there's something about the name Philip... If you want to refresh your memory, here's a link to the Larkin poem: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178055

I enjoyed the film and agreed with other people's comments about the universal problems of family relationships. And it's always entertaining to watch other cultures.

Here's the comments from our audience feedback:

• Beautiful film – layered
• Very interesting film
• WONDERFUL FILM. LOVED THE INSIGHT OF THE FAMILY THE WORLD OVER
• Very moving – family tensions – the same the whole world over. Beautifully filmed
• A wonderful insight into Japanese culture. But I found the western style music slightly less enjoyable.
• Loved it
• So much the same so different
• Liked it. Liked how the relationships were indicated through the characters, conversations and expressions. It was lovely & slow & subtle.
• Very perceptive and the point made that generational differences and points of view are similar whatever the culture. A very thoughtful film.
• A gentle thought-provoking film w. sad undercurrents.
• I liked this.
• Same the whole world over
• An interesting insight into Japanese culture. Quite slow and engaging.
• A good insight into Japanese family life in a small town. Rather sad, regretting missed opportunities to talk openly to each other.
• An insight into a different culture. How a death in the family can affect everyone. It also shows the generation change and how they don't communicate.
• Great insight into Japanese life. A little too drawn out.
• Japanese family life is well pictured. Photography is very good.
• Cultural differences made it difficult to bond with the characters.
• Full of contradictions. Sweet little grandma suffering hate and jealousy and grumpy grandfather with unexpectedly kind qualities.
• Mildly interesting for the cultural aspects – not my sort of film.
• Sorry this just didn't grab me – I guess I was just not in the mood – or too tired or something.

On-line reviews:

Peter Bradshaw  in The Guardian (4 stars):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/jan/14/still-walking-review

Philip French  in the Observer:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/jan/17/review-still-walking

Sukhdev Sandhu in the  Telegraph (4 Stars):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/6989982/Still-Walking-review.html

David Parkinson in the Radio Times (4 stars):
http://www.radiotimes.com/film/vvdx/still-walking-2008

IMDB users gave it 7.9 out of 10:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1087578/

Rotten Tomatoes,  audience rating = 88%:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1216014-still_walking/