37th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Though shot in a typical Japanese context the film appealingly combines different styles, rhythms and aesthetic forms, following the life of each member of a typical yet destructured family. Filament (how the son is called) reflects and confronts the longing for identity and feeling alive in today’s society with the traditional “system” of family. Especially the role of the father and the mother challenge us (as Christians) and lead to the question what value family and life has and may have.

A strange man offers to the main character the mirror which she needs to find a way to reconcile with her past and to accept the challenge of her present life. In an original and sophisticated way the movie shows the process of finding deeper levels of personal self understanding.