With Mashide Ichii's “The Stormy Family” Nippon Connection chose a turbulent comedy for their actual program. Since his debut “Dog Days Dream” in 2005 Ichii looks back to a series of awarded feature films. Among them are “Blindly in Love” (2013) and “Our Meal For Tomorrow” (2017). His actual work is a mixture of family drama and crime story.
The Stormy Family is screening at Nippon Connection
Ten years ago, an elderly couple made a bank robbery. Naively they, used their own car and unfortunately it really wasn't discreet. Everybody recognized the richly decorated car of the undertakers. But still, they disappeared and caouldn't be found by the police. Now years after the incident, one of the children calls the family together for a memorial service. The three brothers and one sister arrive at the parental house.
The oldest brother with his own wife and daughter claims the inheritance for himself and they soon start fighting. For everyone it is immediately clear that Kotetsu is just like their missing father. He is egoistic, greedy and irresponsible. And Kotetsu still suffers from the strictness he received from his father. He feels misunderstood. Yet, the argument between the siblings is not the only problem they have to face. Finally, sensing its chance, the bank requests the robbery sum from the family members.
“The Stormy Family” has several layers. At the centre of it is a family. A lot of unprocessed feelings emerge when everybody meets. The son realizes after years, that he isn't, after all, so much different from his father. And that his father cared about him much more than he thought. Together, the siblings find out about other sides of him they didn't expect.
The film depicts here a natural process that goes with growing up. Most children rebel against their parents, stating they would never act the same way as them once adults. But inevitably, they will recognize how strong the ties are between them. This doesn't necessary lead to a harmonic family life. The Suzuki family in the film fights over inheritance. Often, when it comes to money, even very close relatives face irreconcilable dissent.
Besides the family topic which gives the film its most relevant level, there is also a complicated crime story. A series of unexpected twists tells about the background of the bank robbery. Not every aspect of the narrative is very credible, but still it functions well as a whole. The pace is quick and the characters convincing. Main protagonist Kotetsu played by Tsuyoshi Kusanagi overdoes it sometimes, leading into slapstick. So it's actually Hirofumi Arai as Kyosuke and Megumi as Rena who deliver the best performances.
As a whole, “The Stormy Family” surely is amusing and entertaining. Still it has a cheesy side that gets out of control at the end of the film. With a bigger concentration on the dialogues and less forced comical situations, the film would have gained in strength.
