It's a Flickering Life

Commemorating the centennial of Shochiku Cinema, the revered Yamada Yoji returns to the screen with his distinctive brand of affectionate family drama permeated with romance, nostalgia, and comical invention. Succeeding his acclaimed perennial loser character of Tora-san, a deadbeat father in gambling debt, almost deserted by his wife and daughter, is left with only one place to go: a neighbourhood cinema, where he conjures up memories of his youthful dream of becoming a filmmaker. Reviving Shochiku’s humanist “Ofuna-style”, the prolific director takes us on an evocative journey into the Golden Age of Japanese cinema, witnessing the “god of cinema” transcending time to create a miracle in the family we adore, and in the films we love.