Slow Learner

From the late 1950s through the '70s, more than 90,000 of the ethnic Koreans in Japan emigrated to North Korea, a country that promised them affluence, justice, and an end to discrimination. KAZOKU NO KUNI tells the story of one of their number, who returns for just a short period. For the first time in 25 years, Sonho is reunited with his family in Tokyo after being allowed to undergo an operation there. Sonho’s younger sister Rie is at the centre of the film, and is not hard to recognise as the director’s alter-ego. In her documentaries DEAR PYONGYANG and SONA, THE OTHER MYSELF, Yang Yonghi told the story of her own life, and how, at age six, she experienced the departure of her three older brothers, who left their family for Pyongyang.

8 short stories comprise this anthology movie, based on the Tales of Terror TV series.

The bittersweet events in the lives of people in Hakodate, a regional city connected by a streetcar network. A laid-off man and his younger sister go up a mountain to see the first sunrise of the year. Meanwhile, Haruo has inherited his family's gas business, but things aren't going well in his new endeavor and he becomes increasingly frustrated.

The story, set in the heady post-war 50s into the early 60s , revolves around a love triangle between Tomoko, long playing the mistress to married older writer Shitto and the new stud who comes into her life, Ryota Kinoshita. Tomoko is sick and tired of her relationship with writer Shingo, who is married and has children. Shingo is a talented writer, but has yet to be recognized by the public. Tomoko then enters into a sexual relationship with younger man Ryota Kinoshita, but Tomoko is not satisfied.

After learning her boyfriend and colleague was already in a relationship and about to marry another colleague, Takako quits her job and falls into a slump. Her uncle, Satoru, offers her a job and room in his used bookstore in Jinbocho. Despite her initial lack of interest, Takako is slowly drawn into the world of books through contact with the customers who frequent the store.

15-year-old Hatsuko (Higashi Ayu) lives with her elder brother in a humble town house. Their mother died when they were young, and the father disappeared. The brother (Shioya Shun) left high school before graduation to work at a factory, but spends their meager house-keeping money on adult entertainment. Hatsuko, who is poor and has no friends, finds emotional support in Mishima (Sano Kazuma), a boy in her class, who helps her with her study to go to a high school together. However, Hatsuko's brother causes trouble at the factory and gets the sack. Hatsuko gives up her dream of going to high school. In spring, the modest relationship continues between Mishima, now a high school student, and Hatsuko who works at a biscuit factory. One day, Hatsuko's long-gone father reappears. In a drunken frenzy, he sets fire to the house to go and rejoin the mother, leaving Hatsuko without a place to live. Hatsuko leaves the town on her own, drawing strength from the promise of marriage with Mishima.

During a suicide attack on an airport, the hand grenade of 'M', one of three terrorists, malfunctions, leaving him captured. Exposed to maltreatment in prison, he slowly loses his grip on reality as he is forced to confront his ideological convictions.

The third installment in the "Landscape of lovers who are not anyone" series directed by Michio Koshikawa, which depicts men and women passing each other and attracting each other. Sugi-chan, Saki's husband and painter, collapsed a few years ago and her left half of her body was stuck, and she is no longer painting at all. One day, Sugi-chan said she wanted to draw Saki's nude. While supporting her working life at her late-night family restaurant, Sugi-chan was delighted that she wanted Sugi-chan to draw again, but she couldn't live without relying on Sugi-chan. I was feeling annoyed. The bodies and minds of two people passing each other. On the day when a big crack was born between the two, Saki is connected with his family colleague Yukio. Aika Yukihira and Sugi-chan, who play the role of Saki in "Be My Slave, Chapter 2 Please Call Me Your Master," act as an actor on the stage while having paralysis on her left side. Tadatoshi Ogita plays each.

Mari is exhausted by life in the city and opens up a shop selling snow cones in the small town of Nishiizu where she grew up. The simple flavors of her cold desserts soothe the emotional wounds of her customers and Mari comes to terms with herself by spending time with a young woman with a scarred face.