My Impression of Survival Family

Image from: http://asianwiki.com/Survival_Family

I recently watched this 2017 Japanese movie called Survival Family, directed by Shinobu Yaguchi. It starred Fumiyo Kohinata, Eri Fukatsu, Yuki Izumisawa, and Wakana Aoi. I watched the movie on my flight back from Tokyo to Toronto, and overall, I enjoyed it.

The story is about Yoshiyuki Suzuki (played by Fumiyo Kohinata), and his family as they try to adapt to living after a nationwide blackout seemed to have occurred with no logical explanation. I found the movie to be interesting in a sense that before the blackout occurs, we see a glimpse of what life is like for the Suzuki family. All of the family members relies on the convenience of technology, whether it is using the elevator, computers, phones, or TVs as an example. The son (played by Yuki Izumisawa) always have music playing on his headphones, and when the blackout occurs, he hears the ambient nature sounds to his surprise that he had never paid attention to in the past. There was another scene where a customer was trying to barter with a shop by offering his watch/money for food/water, and was told that a trade can only occur if you offer something useful in return. It shows a good social commentary of how much we rely on electricity to do basic tasks, and how lost we can be when we have to go back to the more simple days.

The acting from the main cast was good, and I found some of the cinematography to be nicely shot. There isn't much that I would criticize about the movie after the first watch that I can recall. It has been a couple of weeks since I watched the movie. However, I wouldn't say it was a perfect movie. Everything seemed fine, and possibly if I watched it several times, then the nitpicks might show up but there's nothing that stands out that is a major flaw in my opinion at the moment.

I watched the director's other movie, Swing Girls, and from what I can recall about Swing Girls (since it has been so many years), it was a mixture of comedy and drama. I believe some of the media was marketing Survival Family to have a similar mood to the director's previous works, but I felt like it was mainly a drama with some lighthearted/funny moments. I wouldn't really classify the two movies as similar in tone. It didn't occur to me that it was the same director before watching Survival Family, so I never had any expectations prior to watching the movie. To conclude: Overall, I enjoyed the film!