The Family Game
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the Yoshimitsu Morita film. For the 1960s game show, see Family Game.
| The Family Game | |
|---|---|
 Film poster |
|
| Directed by | Yoshimitsu Morita |
| Produced by | Yutaka Okada Shirô Sasaki |
| Written by | Yohei Honma (novel) Yoshinori Kobayashi Yoshimitsu Morita |
| Starring | Yusaku Matsuda Juzo Itami Saori Yuki |
| Cinematography | Yonezo Maeda |
| Editing by | Akimasa Kawashima |
| Distributed by | Circle Films |
| Release date(s) | June 4, 1983 |
| Running time | 107 min. |
| Language | Japanese |
| IMDb profile | |
The Family Game is the English title of Kazoku Gēmu, an award-winning 1983 Japanese film by Yoshimitsu Morita. This black comedy dealt with the changing dynamics of home life in Japan at that time.
Japanese critics interpreted the movie as a comment on the misplaced priorities of middle-class life in Japan — the family in The Family Game relates to each other not as human beings, but in terms of the social roles they are expected to take on, and the pressure of these social expectations further accelerates the breakdown in their communication. It was voted the best movie of the year by Japanese critics and won several awards. Although it failed to win the Japanese Academy Award for Best Picture, it won the award for Newcomer of the Year.
[edit] Plot summary
The Family Game presents an exaggerated look at the family structure of the time through the Numata family. The father (Juzo Itami) is a distant, alcoholic salaryman who cannot relate to or exert any influence on his family. He is angry that his second son, Shigeyuki (Ichirota Miyagawa), is not as academically successful as his older brother (who is himself only modestly successful in that regard). The mother (Saori Yuki) is a powerless housewife who pampers Shigeyuki. Shigeyuki only finds a measure of success when Yoshimoto (Yusaka Matsuda), a college student, is hired as his tutor — and literally slaps sense into him, forcing him to spend hours every day studying both academic subjects and self-defense. When Shigeyuki eventually gets into a good school, Yoshimoto turns the victory party into a spectacle of food-throwing and violence.
[edit] Cast
- Yusaku Matsuda as Yoshimoto
- Juzo Itami as Mr. Numata
- Saori Yuki as Mrs. Numata
- Ichirota Miyagawa as Shigeyuki
- Junichi Tsujita as Shinichi, the older brother
