Sightlines · reception
How Still Walking was received
2008 · Hirokazu Kore-eda · Still Walking on Sightlines
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 honor 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 favorite, 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
- 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.