Still Walking · reception & legacy

2008 · Hirokazu Kore-eda

How Still Walking has been received, argued over, and remembered.

The arc

Warmly received on the 2008 festival circuit, it has since climbed from 'lovely small film' to what many now call Kore-eda's masterpiece — the film cinephiles point to when Shoplifters newcomers ask where to go next.

What's debated

The eternal Ozu question: fans endlessly debate whether the Tokyo Story comparisons honour the film or flatten it — a comparison Kore-eda himself has politely rejected.

Its footprint

It's the modern touchstone for the 'nothing happens and everything happens' family drama, and its food scenes — especially the corn tempura — are lovingly obsessed over in reviews and food-in-film lists.

Where it stands

A Criterion-anointed canon climber and quiet Letterboxd favourite, routinely named among the best films of the 21st century.

★ Did you know? Kore-eda wrote the film in the wake of his own mother's death, drawing the mother character directly from her — and it marked the start of his beloved run of collaborations with actress Kirin Kiki.

Named by the director

Influences Hirokazu Kore-eda has publicly named — the director's own word, distinct from the inferred lines of influence.

Mikio Naruse — Responding to the constant Ozu comparisons around this film, Kore-eda said his sensibility is closer to Naruse's.
Ken Loach — Kore-eda named Loach alongside Naruse as the filmmaker he actually feels kinship with, rather than Ozu.