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Little Forest: Winter/Spring
リトル・フォレスト 冬・春
2015 120 min Japan 12+
★7.5
Drama
Director: Jun'ichi Mori
Trailers
Description
Ichiko bakes a cake for an end-of-year party with her friends. In the depths of winter, making mochi and curry keeps the people of Komori warm. Later, spring brings thoughts of her absent mother as well as rice planting and sakura, and she begins to think of leaving Komori behind again.
Starring
Ai Hashimoto
Actor
Mayu Matsuoka
Actor
Yôichi Nukumizu
Actor
Key opinion
Little Forest: Winter/Spring is a meditative, visually immersive celebration of seasonal living and traditional food preparation. It functions as a gentle, rhythmic character study that rewards viewers who appreciate slow-paced, atmospheric storytelling.
| Production | The film excels as a sensory experience, masterfully capturing the cycle of the seasons and the tactile process of preparing traditional meals. | |
| Pacing | The narrative structure feels more akin to an episodic mini-series than a traditional feature, requiring a continuous watch to fully appreciate its thematic progression. | |
| Screenplay | The film intentionally maintains a distance from the protagonist’s personal history, leaving her mother’s backstory largely mysterious. |