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6.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Kodakara sôdô remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you want a polished drama about the struggle of the working class, this is not that. This is loud, it is sweaty, and it feels like the characters are constantly one bad decision away from a total collapse.
It is definitely worth a watch if you have a stomach for old-school, slightly grotesque comedy. If you’re the type of person who needs their movies to stay polite and tidy, you’ll probably want to turn it off about twenty minutes in.
The Fukudas are poor. Like, really, truly struggling. There are so many children running around the screen that I stopped trying to count them after the first few minutes. It feels less like a household and more like a human beehive that someone just kicked.
Watching them try to make ends meet while another baby is on the way has this weirdly anarchistic energy. It is not trying to be a tear-jerker. It’s trying to be a headache, and I kind of respect that.
There is a scene involving a food mishap that made me laugh, then feel genuinely bad for laughing. It is that specific brand of uncomfortable humor that you just don't see much anymore. It reminded me a bit of the frantic pacing in Outdoing the Daredevils, where everything is moving too fast for anyone to actually breathe.
Is the plot a bit thin? Sure. Does it matter? Not really. It’s a snapshot of a family that’s essentially running on fumes and sheer willpower. It doesn’t have the polished misery of something like The Mother of His Children, but it has a hell of a lot more personality.
Sometimes the film feels like it’s going to fall apart, just like the family. That’s probably the point. It’s not graceful, but it’s real in a way that feels dirty and honest. 👶🍞
