HARMONIUM

"Deeply involving and uncannily affecting … this nuclear family story is actually a nuclear explosion." – The Playlist

MIFF regular Tadanobu Asano (Ruined Heart: Another Love Story Between a Criminal and a Whore, MIFF 2015; Sad Vacation, MIFF 2008; Hana, MIFF 2007) anchors a devastating dissection of Japanese family structures and schisms in writer/director Kôji Fukada's thematic re-working of his 2010 comedy Hospitalité.

When Yasaka (Asano) walks into Toshio's home workshop after 11 years in prison, he asks his old pal for a job and a place to sleep. Toshio obliges out of more than friendly duty; however, as Yasaka befriends Toshio's wife Akié and starts teaching their daughter Hotaru to play the harmonium, the family's fragile domestic bliss is forever altered.

Winner of the Cannes Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.

"Expertly calibrated to reflect emotional realities ... the film's insights into the isolation evident in the relationships most take for granted – marriages, parent-child connections and long-term friendships – don't merely hit their targets; they smash them with a sledgehammer." – Screen Daily