Plot: On the day that Yusaku's wife leaves him, he gets a phone call from an old friend. His wife is in a coma after having an accident with her scooter. He asks if Yusaku wants to return to his hometown for support and to reminisce about the old days. Yusaku left the place without ever looking back but now might be the time to reconnect with his past.
Watches
January 28, 2025
A pleasant but somewhat inconspicuous Obayashi. The story is based on a popular song, but that's just a footnote really. The plot is pretty standard, with a man returning to his hometown after a long time in the city. It's a pretty common setup for Japanese dramas, that follow standard themes and plot structures. The Last Snow isn't an exception.
Obayashi paints a pretty picture and the melancholy coupled with the rural setting does its work. The performances are nice, the story is sweet and the drama is effective. But there's not enough here to set it apart from similar films, and looking at Obayashi's oeuvre it's far from his most memorable work. Pleasant filler though.