Disease of Family (2023) by Chikako Okayama [Video]

“There are no happy families anywhere.”

The family drama is something of a stable within the Japanese film industry, with a long tradition and many big names as well as legitimate masterpieces attached to it. Similar to other cultures, the family drama is far more than a culmination of conflicts within a community of people, but rather a reflection of the political, economic and cultural challenges within a country. Directors such as Hirokazu Koreeda, whose career is basically founded on the perfection of the genre, have created works dealing with traditional family values being questioned because of various trends and developments. Based on an original work by author Akiko Shimoju, director Okayama Chikako wants to aim for similar acclaim with her adaptation of “Disease of Family”, telling the story of three families and their way of facing a particularly taxing obstacle.

“Disease of Family” starts with the story of Fujita, a successful author whose novels surrounding the …