My Sons

Tetsuo is a young man living in Tokyo. He falls in love with a woman who works in a factory; she is deaf and communicates by signing. Tetsuo has always felt he stood in the shadow of his college educated brother. He thinks he stands in the same place in his father’s eyes. Through this relationship he wins both the woman and his father’s acceptance. The film tells that not as a great transformation but as a quiet acceptance. The distance between generations and the line between country and city are inside the account. The hundred and twenty minutes are spread over several months. Rentaro Mikuni and Masatoshi Nagase take the leads, with Emi Wakui also in the cast. Yoji Yamada’s Japanese film was completed in 1991.