Review | Film review: Survival Family – Shinobu Yaguchi’s scathing satire on Japan’s generational divide
Waterboys director has fun pointing out modern society’s dependence on technology and its impact on family life, in this story of a couple and their children caught in a power cut that forces them to leave home and seek help
3.5/5 stars
A scathing satire on the modern family and the lack of connection between generations, writer-director Shinobu Yaguchi’s Survival Family also speculates humorously about our technological dependency and inability to fend for ourselves in the outside world.
Japanese cinema is obsessed with stories that expose the generational divide, reprimanding the young for neglecting traditional values and their cultural heritage. In this film, Yaguchi graciously suggests that the older generation of housewives and salarymen are equally guilty, enslaved by their jobs and beholden to their household appliances.
When a sudden, unexplained power cut wipes out everything from electrical and utility services to mobile phones and even cars, families across Japan are forced to abandon their homes in search of help.