Aju Makita – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

MOVIE OF THE WEEK January 29, 2021: TRUE MOTHERS

January 24, 2021February 12, 2021 Jennifer Merin Aju Makita, betsy bozdech, Cate Marquis, Hiromi Nagasaku, japanese films, jennifer merin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, marina antunes, maryann johanson, naomi kawase, nell minow, nikki baughan, Pam Grady, Sandy Angelo chen, susan wloszczyna, True Mothers

Motherhood — in all its complexity — is at the heart of Naomi Kawase’s drama True Mothers, which tells the intertwined stories of Hikari Katakura (Aju Makita) and Satoko Kurihara (Hiromi Nagasaku). Their circumstances are very different, but they both fiercely love the same little boy, and that love ultimately helps each better understand the other.

Reviews

TRUE MOTHERS – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

January 21, 2021January 25, 2021 Susan Wloszczyna Aju Makita, Hiromi Nagasaku, japanese films, motw, Movie of the Week, naomi kawase, True Mothers

As someone who was given up for adoption as an infant, True Mothers couldn’t help but touch my heart and souL. What most got to me about Japanese filmmaker Naomi Kawase’s touching drama about a well-off Tokyo couple with an adopted 5-year-old son were the two mothers at the center of the story. The message that matters? That maternal love can come in many forms.

Festivals Reviews

TRUE MOTHERS (TIFF20) – Review by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

September 22, 2020September 22, 2020 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas 0 Comments Aju Makita, Hiromi Nagasaku, japanese films, naomi kawase, TIFF, toronto international film festival, True Mothers

True Mothers is first and foremost a movie about feeling in every sense of the word. Naomi Kawase’s emphasis on ‘feeling’ is harmonized as physical and emotional; the film is punctuated by a steady stream of close ups of hands, highlighting their gestural capacity to communicate complex feelings without words, but also to connection with another person through touch.