An Osaka Story

A student at London's National Film and Television School, Toichi Nakata directs this honest, intimate look at the filmmaker's very dysfunctional family. Returning from Britain, Nakata, with soundman Simon Atkins in tow, is greeted by his wealthy Korean father, who is himself returning from one of his monthly trips to Korea. The homecoming does not go smoothly as Nakata peppers his pop with a series of blunt questions. In the voice-over, it is revealed that his father went to Korea to visit his other wife and children. At home, the father's second family is an open secret, but one Nakata's mother and five siblings are reluctant to discuss. Nakata is bent on airing some of this familial dirty laundry. When he asks his mom why doesn't she dump her errant spouse, she replies wanly that she will only be alive for three or four more years. Later, after a particularly ugly off-camera argument with his dad, Nakata reveals to his mother that he's gay. The film ends with Nakata leaving Japan and making a life for himself in the U.K.~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide