Muddy River

Japan

Elegant, sensitive, moving film about the friendship between two boys in the immediate post-war period. One is from a working class family who operate a busy noodle shop; the other lives on a boat. his father is dead and his mother works as a prostitute to feed her children.

Class issues abound but the story is closely focused on the lives of the two boys, with the focus on the different circumstances forced on them because of their social status. The film is imbued with a sense of inevitability, of melancholy as the gulf between them plays itself out.

Cine and framing were exceptional. This is a world-class film which ranks with the best dealing with the lives of children.

9