Films: Yukiko

Yukiko

Japan, 2011, 75 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: Asian, Drama, Family Issues, Japan
Programs: Contemporary World Cinema, Focus on Japanese Cinema, Art, & Culture
Language: Japanese, French English Subtitles

DIRECTOR: Haruka Motoi
Producer: Hiro Uchiyama
Editor: Haruka Motoi
Screenwriter: Haruka Motoi
Cinematographer: Rodolphe Seraphine, Nobuo Todoroki
Principal Cast: Harue Yamada, Hiromi Asai, Katsuko Nakamura

When Yukiko walks out on her boyfriend, she finds herself stranded in Paris, a stranger to the locals and their language. Mitsue offers her a place to stay, saving her from a night on the streets, and the two hit it off—but the next morning, Yukiko’s mother shows up unannounced, claiming she’s come on holiday and insisting on meeting the kind woman who has taken her daughter in. Soon enough, however, Yukiko discovers her mother’s true intentions—she’s come to find her estranged husband, who walked out on the family and expatriated to France long ago.

Haruka Motoi’s quiet character study centers on the bond that women forge as they overcoming life’s hardships. In a foreign land, the camaraderie of countrywomen gives Yukiko the strength to start her own life in the city of lights. Against a backdrop that functions as a virtual sightseeing tour of Paris, Motoi provides an intimate look at one young woman’s resolve to right a world that has been turned upside down.
—MATTHEW CAMPBELL

Sponsored by Asian Art Coordinating Council, Consulate General of Japan at Denver, The Japan Foundation

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