Like Father, Like Son

Honestly I am a bit disappointed with this movie. It looks like this father role is created especially for Fukuyama Masaharu. His role in Galileo is too imprinted in my mind: as Professor Yugawa, he is rational, task-oriented and dislike children. In this movie, Ryota Nonomiya (Fukuyama Masaharu) is also a successful and busy architect who is rational and values independence of his child. We learn from the trailer that his 6-year-old son has been swapped with another family and the theme of the film seems to focus on what to do with the situation. But the movie touches on much wider issues than just choosing the birth or nurture family. The role is crafted for Fukuyama because Ryota is also interested in photography and music and he has spent lots of effort putting his son, Keita, into piano lessons and is trying to groom his son into taking pictures. Yet perhaps his fatherhood just stops there. When Ryota discovers his son has been swapped with another child, instead of thinking what's best for the children, he is in a fighting mode to take his own child back – even that means putting his six years of love and care away. At times he even wants to have both boys. The reason behind it was because of his personal history – he ran away to see his birth mother so he has always has this obsession of being together with the bloodline. Of course this mentality also originates from his father who insists blood succession is important. Ryota does not seem to see that a family is held together by more than just blood. When both boys seem to have more attachment to the Saiki father - although his house is smaller - because he spends more time playing with them and listening to them, it is obvious who is more important to the children. As in "I wish," director Hirokazu Koreeda values children's autonomy and independent thinking. It is brilliantly and naturally portrayed in Keita's making an extra flower to the other daddy, asking the other father to fix his toy, and his refusal in having papa's camera. When Ryusei ran away to his own home, we know Ryota's home is not what a family is supposed to be. The story is a little unconvincing and the development a bit too slow, with too little dramatic elements. How can a father be so chic and yet so traditional at the same time? He is supposed to be an architect with modern thinking but he is kind of ruthless in just wanting his bloodline and forgoing his relations with the kid who has been with them for six years. And the wife did not oppose much! The nurse's intention was unconvincing either. While I do not like the story very much, I like the central idea – that kids need to be spent time with – to play with, to fix their toys, to bath with, to go camping and fly kites with. They don't need your camera although they will take your pictures. They only need your time. And this period does not last very long! No wonder both kids want to be with the Saiki family. They explore reality together and treat bleeding as part of growing up. I want to grow up in a family like that too even though it maybe poorer. Fukuyama is not a very good actor but in this movie he is better than I expected, especially in the last scene. The boy who plays his son is great but the other boy seems to be a bit too old for his role although they were supposed to be born on the same day. All in all, it is worth watching if you like children and enjoy spending time with them. I wonder how the forthcoming Hollywood version would present the same theme.

I am a little bias here so I urge you to watch the movie and read other reviews for more in depth reviews. My review will be to comment specifically about the kids. They are super ADORABLE! And then the amazing piano competition scene, what talent O.o! But I have to say this movie had me in tears several times only because the kids are so cute and adorable. They make me want to have kids of my own ASAP and play with them. They bring back memories of my childhood. Gah, I just absolutely love the kids. I recommend this movie to anyone and hope it gets some showing in the states here.

Being from Germany, I always found it fascinating to watch films about foreign cultures, especially Asian. However, here I have to say that "Soshite chichi ni naru" or "Like Father, Like Son" is not too much in terms of that. It is not a major plot point. It is much more of a family drama that could also play in many other areas of the world, the United States for example. The only really really relevant reference in terms of symbolisms, was when the female main character's mother asked her daughter if what happened is maybe fate and briefly elaborates on that. The story can be summarized quickly. Two couples (who could hardly be any more different, especially the men in terms of profession and education and who is in charge in their relationships) find out that their sons were swapped at the hospital when they were born. The writer and director is Hirokazu Koreeda, a regular at Cannes in the last fifteen years and a first-time winner for this movie in 2013. All 4 central actors give good performances and it brought them wins and nominations at the Japanese Film awards. I would like to elaborate on some scenes that I found the most significant ones: One would be when the woman tells the boy who she now knows that he is not her real son that they should maybe go away together and leave their husband/"father". This proves that the marriage between the two was far from perfect, possibly because of the man's profession and lack of time for his family. Another scene is when the central male character shows his actual son how to eat with sticks. It is one of those moments where we already see how he is trying to make a connection and that he will have much less trouble than his wife to give up on his former son. Then, of course, the ending. We see the male lead actor again, this time, how he bonds with his original son and this makes obvious that this film is not really about the swapping. The swapping and all the problems that arise from it are just the method. It is much more about an unlucky coincidence (aforementioned method) that marks the path of the lead character in order to finally manage to truly make a connection with his son. Is blood more important than all the years they spent together? Well.. the ending is open and we won't find a definite solution about who keeps which child. I like that choice from the director. Finally, I would like to say that, even if I liked the way the film ended, I would have possible ended it with the photo shoot together. Seemed like a perfect moment for the ending credits to roll in. The soundtrack here is very subtle and almost non-existent as it is often the case in Japanese films. All in all, I can recommend watching this.

While I liked some moving and sweet moments, being a father myself, I didn't like too much this movie for a few reasons. The first it's that the "bad" father looks like a little plausible one, brought to force the film to be a moving one and to accentuate the conflict. The second, even more important, is that the reason of the main issue, as is as it was shown, looks very improbable. Anyway, there is not need of a great culture or intelligence to understand that the sons are own by whoever grown them. The blood issue is secondary in such cases. Sure the movie lets you think for a moment about natural son versus adopted one, but the choice, in this particular case, however hard, it is naturally obligated. Both the sons were not babies anymore. Too late. The easiest solution should be, of course and obviously, the one it was going to be at the end of the movie. An hard but simple solution that every movie character understood from the start, but, casually, not the "bad" father. The film is somehow sweet, thanks to the children, and it shows a rare dilemma that could be hard to digest, but that's it all. There is not much more in here, apart how important is for a son to be supported and spend time with his father, whoever he is. Who didn't know this yet? 7/10

Viewed on Streaming. Subtitles/translations = ten (10) stars. Director Hirokazu Koreeda (who is also credited as the sole screen writer and editor) treads much too lightly on a tale filled with dramatic possibilities. Perhaps the Director feared his story could easy degenerate into an overly melodramatic morass, since he frequently steers his film in the opposite direction resulting in trivia and wooden acting. The plot involves the revelation (after the criminal statue of limitations has expired) that male babies were deliberately switched immediately after birth. This apparently is not unusual at the local hospital that lacks basic controls to prevent these crimes. However, it does employ a lawyer who seems to specialize in such matters. The photo play deals with the discovery of, family reactions to, and "final" remediation of the issue. (Maintaining the status Quo (and minimizing the trauma) via quick reciprocal adoptions would seem like a straight-forward approach, but it is never seriously perused. Perhaps this is because it would abruptly end the story and turn the movie into a short subject!) Impact of vastly different family socioeconomic conditions (one with a rising-Salaryman-star father; the other with a small-shopkeeper father) becomes a major plot point often eclipsing the baby-switching factor (a more accurate movie title might be: "Like Family (Fortunes), Like Son"!). Koreeda seems to have focused his energy on directing his child actors (understandably, as they are usually a major challenge), and, in the process, neglected the performances of his adult actors. Further, those playing the parents in the Salaryman family are miscast. The "score" mostly consists of fragmented piano playing (the Salaryman's "son" is learning to play this instrument) which is overly done. But not completely to the point of boring irritation. Subtitles are excellent with opening and closing credits completely translated. All closing credits can be viewed just in English! An extreme rarity in Japanese films. Doumoarigatou Goziamashita! Worth watching, but don't expect too much. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

This movie is recommended. The Chinese foreign film, Like Father, Like Son, travels familiar territory in its telling of a modern day switched-at-birth tale, but it is handled with such delicacy and skill by its talented director that it is easy to forgive its predictable plot and outcome. Director Hirokazu Koreeda, who also wrote and edited this film, avoids the melodramatic excesses and examines this dilemma in basic human terms as two families are suddenly confronted with life-changing issues. Faced with political and cultural pressure, both parents are forced to come to terms with their innocent children and decide if bloodlines are more important than their love of their sons. The characters are a bit stilted as written with the fathers being polar opposites. One wishes that the male roles were closer in their emotional make-up, but as written here, one father, Ryota, is a rich self-absorbed narcissist while the other, Yukari, is a buffoonish low-life man- child, That the former is such an unloving businesslike dad and the latter is a fun-loving one creates little sympathy for either fathers. The mothers, Midori and Yudai , are shown to be loving and caring mother stereotypes who seem to have no real part in the decision-making process in this patriarchal society. It is the cultural and economic divides that add more tension to this conventional story, along with the fine acting by the film's cast. Particularly strong are Masaharu Fukuyama and  Machiko Ono as the wealthy and unhappily married couple. Like Father, Like Son shines in its quieter moments of family bonding and successfully takes their dilemma to heart. The film presents its modern viewpoint of a complicated issue and makes for compelling drama with a tad too much melodrama also to spare. The predictability of the film's final outcome makes Like Father, Like Son more conventional than innovative, but Koreeda is a talented contemporary Asian filmmaker whose future ventures bear watching. GRADE: B Visit my blog at: www.dearmoviegoer.com ANY COMMENTS: Please contact me at: jadepietro@rcn.com

Everyone has an opinion about what constitutes good parenting. Does it boil down to rules and regulations, pushing a child to excel, letting them just enjoy themselves, or the amount of time you spend with them? These issues are on the table in Hirokazu Koreeda's latest child-centered film, Like Father, Like Son, winner of the Jury Prize at last year's Cannes Film Festival. Ryoto Nonomiya (Masaharu Fukuyama) is a somewhat aloof architect who works long hours at his job, leaving little time for his six-year-old son Keita (Keita Ninomiya). Ryoto and his wife Midori (Machiko Ono) live in a luxury Tokyo apartment that relatives tell them looks like a hotel. Keita is comfortable and apparently quite happy, enjoying a close and caring relationship with his mother, even though his father is not always around. Ryoto loves Keita, however, and wants the best for him, pushing him to excel in academics and music, but his character is painted in such broad strokes that he doesn't come across as truly caring. The family's comfortable world is turned upside down, however, when the Nonomiya's receive a phone call from the hospital telling them that Keita is in fact not their biological son, that testing has revealed that two boys were switched at birth, presumably by accident. Both curious and anxious, Ryoto and Midori make plans to visit their biological son and here Koreeda draws a sharp contrast between the two families. Yudai (Lily Franky), a good-natured, playful storekeeper and his wife Yukari (Yoko Maki), are working class people, living in the rear of a general goods store with their three children, a boy named Ryusei (Shogen Hwang), and his younger brother and sister. Although tongue in cheek, Yudai tells his wife that his philosophy of life is "I always say, put off to tomorrow, what ever you can." When the mistake of the hospital is realized, the shocked families must decide how (and if) they are going to exchange sons. The upper class Ryoto says that it "now makes sense" why his son Keita is not talented and ambitious like himself, a statement that is very hurtful to Midori. His desire is to continue the bloodline, urged also by his own father who suggests that he should make every effort to raise both boys. While this may sound good in theory, when Ryoto raises the possibility with Yudai and Yukari, the reaction is one of deep insult and Ryoto has to go to Plan B. While awaiting a financial settlement from the hospital, the two families agree to let the boys come for a visit to gradually get to know their real parents, at first for one day, then later on the weekends. Awkwardly, Ryoto tells Ryu to call them father and mother, reserving daddy and mommy for Yudai and Yukari, the only parents he has truly known. Friction begins to develop between the parents when Yudai let's Ryoto know that he should spend more time with his son. Though both children adjust, Ryu expresses a longing to return to daddy and mommy. Ryoto wants the exchange of children to work out but Midori misses Keita and reacts with anger when she perceives that her husband blames her for what has happened. The exchange of the boys becomes a catalyst for Ryoto to look at his life and see what has been missing in his approach to parenting and he has the courage to make changes. Like Father, Like Son is a riveting experience that once again demonstrates that the performances Koreeda can elicit from children are little short of amazing. Like Father, Like Son can meander, has some formulaic aspects, and does not have the weight of some of his earlier films, yet it is an entertaining, thought-provoking, and beautifully realized two hours at the movies.

"Work hard now, so there is no struggle later" declares a hard-driving and pushy Dad. As if work makes the man. As if it is so simple. Upon discovering his 6-year-old son was switched at birth, the Dad continues to focus on form and not heart. The family taking care of his real son is everything that he is not; fun-loving, adventuresome, and loving of the natural world. He pools his lawyers and his money in order to prove a point, yet the point proved may be his own demise. Though the story might be better developed in places, the theme is compelling and poignant, the actors are believable, and the disparate characters are intriguing. Winner of a Cannes festival jury prize. This film is about the importance of achieving real connections with others.

Written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, this movie carries on with his gentle, easy style of story-telling. I cannot remember the subject matter being explored by another movie, globally speaking: two boys born simultaneously in the same hospital switched in a careless mistake, with the unfortunate incident discovered six years later. The devastating impact on the two sets of parents is handled in this movie in a reflective, low key manner. In addition, it also touches on familiar issues of today that are not unique to Japan but have a global relevance: "helicopter" parents (i.e. hovering over the heads of the children incessantly), social class disparity, relationship with the older generation, just to name a few. The two sets of parents are in two different social sectors. One comprises a middle-class go-getter corporate achiever father and a mother who came originally from a more humble a rural background but has since turned middle-class. The other set of parents is more grass-root: father a small shop owner, a handyman good at repairing broken things and the mother a fast food server well-equipped with worldly common sense. The switched kids, now 6-years-old, reflect their respective upbringing in their "adopted" (involuntarily) families. The kid brought up in the more affluent family, the only child, is introvert and somewhat timid as the result of a dominating father (and passive mother). The kid at the more grass-root family is cheerful and outgoing, due also to the fact that he has younger siblings (which nobody knew were non-blood-related until the hospital dropped the bombshell, so to speak). From my brief description of the plot line above, one can imagine how mesmerizing a movie can be crafted. This is indeed what Hirokazu Koreeda did, in his inimitable languid style. He takes his time in developing the characters and it take some time before the audience to falls in love with the grass-rooted couple in their worldly wisdom. My earlier depiction probably painted a misleading visual picture of the grass-root mother, who is actually the prettier and younger-looking of the two. The rapport of the two mothers, mainly at her initiation, providing support to the emotionally weaker one, is quite touching. The grass-root father, who started out not too favorably, develops into quite a darling while it takes some time for the middle-class and somewhat snobbish father to turn around and become likable. The two kids are wonderful, capably projecting their respective persona as described above. This is a movie not to be missed, particularly for the loyal followers of Hirokazu Koreeda's work, but also for anyone who enjoys the Japanese cinema at large.

There are many comparisons made between Hirokazu Kore-eda and one of the Twentieth Century masters of Japanese cinema, the much lauded Ozu. With each film that the modern-day equivalent makes, the comparisons will continue to grow and grow, as his films maintain the theme of contemporary family life in Japan. Similar to the recent 'Kiseki (I Wish)', 'Like Father, Like Son' focuses on the lives of two young boys and their unconventional relationships with their parents. While, 'Kiseki' looked at the lives of two brothers, separated by the parents' divorce, 'Like Father, Like Son' looks at the lives of two unrelated boys who, after a hospital mix-up, were raised by a random couple. The mix-up coming out years later, once the boys have started to develop, leaves both sets of parents unsure as to how to proceed. 'Kiseki' looked very much at the lives of the young brothers and how they work behind their parents' backs to be reunited, only to learn the hard way that things have now changed. In his latest effort, Kore-eda focuses very much on the parents, particularly the straight-edged, hard- working salary man, Ryota, who is forever baffled by his son's meagre talent and work ethic in comparison to his own. His equivalent, Yudai, raising his biological son, has a more relaxed approach to life, raising his son in a loving, family environment. Naturally, the polarised approaches of the two males to life and parenting is a clear plot device to make the inevitable life-lesson learnt more poignant by the film's conclusion, and perhaps a slightly more idealistic scenarios for the story. However, much like his previous works, Kore-eda offers no easy solutions. Torn between the boy he has raised and loves and his blood, Ryota looks to all possible permutations for a solution to situation, but each presents its own problems. The family situation presented is one of blood versus upbringing, with Ryota convinced that blood signifies everything - an important aspect of Japanese culture, where blood-type can be thought to determine various aspects of one's life - and as such looks at an interesting aspect of Japanese culture, and while a strong effort, it never quite matches the nostalgia of 'After Life', the detachment of 'Nobody Knows' or the coming of age of 'Keseki'. But here, Kore-eda again affirms that there is a case for himself as the heir to Ozu's title. Fifty years on since the latter's death, the former tackles the changes of a different time, with more and more unconventional relationships and post-modern family structures. Where Ozu looked at emerging female independence ('Late Autumn'), Kore-eda looks at a love doll developing a soul ('Air Doll'). The times have changed, but like father, like son.