Directed by Juzo Itami • 1995 • Japan
Starring Atsuro Watanabe, Hinako Saeki, Masayuki Imai

Based on a novel by Nobel prizewinner Kenzaburo Oe (the brother-in-law of director Juzo Itami) this radically empathetic melodrama—inspired by the story of the writer’s own children—evokes the world of a mentally handicapped young man (Atsuro Watabe) and his devoted sister (Hinako Saeki), who cares for him after their mother and famous novelist father depart for Australia. By turns sweetly sensitive and startlingly intense, A QUIET LIFE is a fascinating dialogue between two major Japanese artists whose careers and personal lives were closely intertwined.