[An] unpretentious, engrossing, well-nuanced and tender drama brimming with a raw and powerfully moving performance by Sayuri Yoshinaga.
Comment
05/24/09
Kabei: Our Mother (2009)
85
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:13
Fresh:11
Rotten:2
Average Rating:6.9/10
Reviews for Kabei: Our Mother
1 - 13 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
The film’s comparisons of one woman’s suffering to one nation’s social descent aren’t well drawn enough to escape its own melodramatic pitfalls.
05/20/09
Painful though it may be, Kâbê is finely crafted and totally enjoyable. Watch
09/08/09
Enriched by Mutsuo Naganuma’s velvety photography, the director’s restrained emotional grammar is surprisingly affecting.
05/22/09
Top CriticPartly because they're relatively rare, homefront movies usually offer a fresh perspective on the tragedies of World War II. That's the case once more with Kabei: Our Mother, a sad and stirring drama from the other side of the Pacific.
07/10/09
Deeply powerful study of a family trying to survive repression and poverty in wartime Japan with much in common--unexpectedly--with the director's Samurai trilogy.
05/21/09
Hits all the right spots to make you cry like chopping onions.
02/14/08
Top CriticOld workhorse Yamada delivers the solar plexus emotional hit of a tragic telegram with precision that shows a lifetime's practice, turning Hallmarkisms sublime.
05/19/09
Delicately observed.
05/13/09
Shows the Shochiku journeyman's prowess in hitting the right buttons to move Japanese auds.
02/14/08
Top CriticThis is not a story about lamenting the inevitability of time but rather of living in denial.
05/20/09
Yoji Yamada's historical drama about a Japanese family's travails during wartime imperial rule teeters on the edge of melodrama, but thankfully hews to a stable and surprisingly poignant path.
06/19/09
For those who prefer movies of substance, there are alternatives -- and I don't mean Terminator Salvation.
05/22/09
1 - 13 (sorted by comments; UK critics are listed first)
Latest News for Kabei: Our Mother
May 25, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
May 21, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Terminator, Night Are So-So Sequels
This week at the movies, we've got deadly machines (Terminator Salvation, starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington); historical hysterics (Night at the Museum: Battle of the... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds