my introduction into yoji yamada cinematic world be through his famed and recent samurai trilogy with the twilight samurai and the hidden blade and love and honor . i have enjoy all three film and and look at the prolific and veteran director filmography and i think it will take me a very long while to watch all his film and especially the tora san series . needless to say when kabei our mother have finally reach our shore and i jump at the chance to watch what would be an ode to mother everywhere and celebrate their innate love for their child . base on the autobiography of teruyo nogami and kabei our mother tell of a close knit family of four mother kayo kabei ( sayuri yoshinaga ) and father shigeru tobei ( mitsugoro bando ) and eldest daughter hatsu ( mirai shida ) and young child teru ( miku sato ) . from the get go their life would be change forever and when shigeru get arrest under the peace preservation law for his morally controversial writing against the nation and set in the late 30 where japan have begin their crusade in china and and thereafter their participation in wwii . so begin kabei struggle to hold down job to fee her family and and the frequent and difficult meeting with her husband behind bar . help come from relative and especially on shigeru side and since kabei own dad have adopt an i tell you so attitude with her choice of spouse . shigeru one time student yama ( arthouse buff should recognize tadanobu asano here ) provide laughter a a bumbling man who slowly become confidante and surrogate guardian to the child and and kabei sister in law hisako ( rei dan ) from hiroshima and which i believe would have sound some hindsight alarm bell a to her unfortunate fate a the film progress through it timeline . while the film center primarily on how the kid be grow up under the presence of their mom and and in a distant relationship with their dad and what i enjoy be how the microscopic family event unfold under the macroscopic worldwide event that have impact on the common folk in japan . it against the historical backdrop of japan push to regional dominance and and there be character here that do not mask those ambition and even discuss what the country would eventually do should it be successful in hold onto conquered land . this be something i rarely see in japanese film and be that frank in their discussion of that era and and also to get a glimpse of how the common man have to struggle against domestic issue make all the more difficult with resource channel toward the war effort . the actress cast here be pitch perfect in their delivery and role and be they the veteran or the child actor . actress sayuri yoshinaga deserve special mention for her role a the motherly figure who have to dig deep and find that inner strength to carry the household through under try circumstance and while mirai shida and miku sato be lovable a the understanding child who have to learn to make do and compromise . each scene with the three of them together just make it heart wrench when the go get tough and or fill your heart with joy should they be celebrate . before long you will soon find yourself be attract to want to be part of this family and thanks to the primary cast powerful performance and with yoji yamada coax some really natural performance from the kid . kabei our mother boast some stunningly beautiful art direction and and be classy in it delivery of both happy and sad moment without go over the top and or rely on cheap melodrama to cheapen the emotion it seek from the audience . there be plenty of little thing here do right which make it pitch perfect and with every scene not be waste and and with every nuance very meaningful in convey it message across and be it compassion or love . aside from the very abrupt end ( i have hop that it could have continue for a lot more and despite it more than 2 hour runtime ) and kabei our mother come highly recommended and and you will find it difficult to be hold back either your tear and or that think about your own mom and her sacrifice she make for you on an everyday basis . just what those sacrifice be should you need another reminder and then the scene during the end credit roll will remind you of the stuff that you would probably have take for grant .