Original Title:  湯を沸かすほどの熱い愛 (Yu wo Wakasu Hodo no Atsui Ai)

Director: Nakano Ryota

Distributor: Klock Worx

Release Date: October 29, 2016

Cast: Miyazawa Rie, Sugisaki Hana, Odagiri Joe, Matsuzaka Tori

Genre: Family, drama, slice of life

Notes: 2 hours and 5 minutes, bagged numerous awards in 40th Japan Academy Film Prize, 26th Japanese Movie Critics Awards, etc.

Review:

This film was so good I might as well tell you to stop reading this review and watch it right now. No kidding. Do yourself a favor and watch it. Right now.

If that isn't convincing enough, then continue reading and welcome aboard.

Our story centers around the protagonist Futaba who has a daughter bullied in school and a closed public bath business, thanks to the disappearance of her husband one year ago. Then, she found out she has a terminal cancer and that her days are numbered. So she decided to hire a private investigator to locate her husband. It was a quick search and Futaba managed to bring his husband home, with his child from another woman. They soon opened the public bath with all the members of the family helping around. But that's just two from the list of things she was determined to do before she dies. And the rest will guarantee to make your heart melt and put tears in your eyes.

I love the general concept of the movie: the pure, selfless love a mother can give to her children, husband, and strangers. It also showed a dying mother's strength, courage, and wisdom and her ability to inspire and change people's lives despite the dreary horrors she was facing herself.

AtsuiAi was well-written, the dialogues were creative, appropriate, and spot on, the pacing was not too slow, not too fast, and every characters were carefuly knitted into a wonderful 3D persona easily capable of drawing out empathy from the audience. The way the characters grow and matured into better persons were also worth mentioning as it made them more human; it made me feel like we're watching a reflection of ourselves, of our families, and of society as a whole. I also love the side stories and the little unexpected twists which added flavor to an already excellent film. Themes like bullying and death were handled responsibly and realistically. The resolutions were also convincing and satisfying.

Each characters were portrayed by top-tier actors and actresses, especially Miyazawa-san and SugiHana. That was a powerful combination and I would love to see them in a different film as mother and daughter again. Odagiri Joe's role was annoying but my heart warmed up to him after some scenes and I also appreciate the comic relief he gave to the story. I already lost count the number of times I cried while watching this film, but I remembered even the youngest kid in the film tugged my heart. That just proved how well-picked the cast were.

Cinematography and editing of the film was also good though nothing spectacular. The music was apt and brought nostalgia and heart warming feels.

I definitely recommend this to everyone. It's a gem you shouldn't miss!(*ﾟ▽ﾟ)/ﾟ･:*

Rating: ★★★★★