Underplayed Gems

Big Joys, Small Sorrows (1986)

Big Joys, Small Sorrows poster
Original title
新・喜びも悲しみも幾歳月
Directed by
Keisuke Kinoshita
Genre
drama film
Country
Japan
Runtime
2h 09m
Rating
6.8 of 10 from 5 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A lighthouse keeper and his family move from post to post across Japan. The film follows their quiet and transient life, showing the different lighthouses and landscapes they encounter.

melancholicnostalgicslow-pacedreflectivebittersweetquietmeditativeobservational

What happens

Big Joys, Small Sorrows (Japanese: 新・喜びも悲しみも幾歳月, Hepburn: Shin Yorokobi mo Kanashimi mo Ikutoshitsuki) is a 1986 Japanese film directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, revisiting his melancholic earlier work, Times of Joy and Sorrow (1957), of a lighthouse keeper and the transient lifestyle he and his family endure. Shot at 10 different lighthouses, four temples, and various scenic locations (including two of the famous Three Views of Japan (日本三景)), spanning the length of Japan from Kyushu to Hokkaido, the film serves a secondary purpose as an insightful time capsule travelogue of early 1980s Japan. It is Kinoshita's 48th and last film. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.