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NOTE: Nelson screened the following film during the 44th Chicago International Film Festival. 

Before films by the great Paul Thomas Anderson were being robbed of their Best Picture statuette (cough*"There Will Be Blood"*cough), there was a scary time when Anderson's film's weren't even nominated in that category! One such horrid year was 1999, and at the following Oscar ceremony the much overrated "American Beauty" wrongly took home the prize.

I thought of the Alan Ball-penned film while watching Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa's devastating and masterful "Tokyo Sonata" at this year's Film Festival. It follows the different paths from a family of four in modern Japan as they each deal with relative voids.

And Kurosawa finds just the right balance in depicting the despair and utter self-determination of the father. In "American Beauty" Director Sam Mendes went for the Hollywood underdog ticket, leaving the Kevin Spacey father figure to prove triumphant in various scenarios whether it be blackmailing his boss or buying the awesome car of his childhood dreams. With "Tokyo Sonata" Kurosawa believes in the role of the father figure to stand for something less narcissistic; here the father figure still acts selfish, but to an extent. Rather than let down his family with the devastation of admitting his unemployment, he continues to dress the part every morning on the way out of the house, always uncertain of the day ahead of him. Will he spend it at the homeless feeding shelter? Or at the shopping mall, scrubbing toilets for minimum wage?

More than anything else, "Tokyo Sonata" manages to create a narrative that is surprising in the way each chapter unfolds, even though the backdrop is something very conventional and familiar (Even "Ordinary People" comes to mind). Much of that is to the credit of the stellar ensemble but also to Kurosawa's personal touch. He's showing off in some scenes, and his filmmaking technique is breathtaking to watch. Two key scenes, both bravura achievements in technical shooting, particularly stand out. One is a confrontation between the youngest son and his angry father. The son has been keeping a secret: he's been taking his parents' money and paying for piano lessons instead of paying money for his grade school's monthly lunch fee. Watch the static shot (all in one take) of the argument. Then note when the cut comes and how jarring the plot development is. Next there is a dazzling steadicam shot of the mother leaving the shopping mall and getting into a car. The car then pulls out of its spot, out of the lot and onto the street road. Seamless. Listen to what is said inside the car as all this is happening. You can literally check off how many plot, character and thematic developments Kurosawa nails in these few moments. A thing of beauty.

"Tokyo Sonata" is without question one of the best films of 2008.