Family Values: Three Films By Hirokazu Koreeda

Three films written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. 'I Wish' (2011) follows two brothers living in different towns who are torn apart by their parents' divorce and dream of reuniting their family. Hearing that a new train line will soon link the two towns, Koichi (Koki Maeda) convinces himself that at the precise moment of both trains passing each other at top speed, his wish will come true.

With the help of his friends and brother Ryunosuke (Ohshirô Maeda), Koichi sets out to realise his dream of uniting the family once more. In 'Like Father, Like Son' (2013) hard-working businessman Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama) has found success both in his professional life and at home where he has a loving wife and a six-year-old son. When he receives the devastating news that the child he thought was his was actually accidentally switched with another baby when he was born, Ryoto has an almost impossible decision to make.

As he begins to question his role as a father he must choose between the boy he has raised and the son he has never known. Finally, 'After the Storm' (2016) follows Shinoda Ryota (Hiroshi Abe), a former writer now working for a private detective agency and struggling to move on with his life. When his wife Kyoko (Yôko Maki) leaves him and his father passes away, Shinoda develops a serious gambling addiction and is forbidden from seeing his son Shingo (Taiyô Yoshizawa) until he catches up on missed child support payments.

However, with his life spiralling out of control, Shinoda is given an unexpected second chance to reconnect with his family when a typhoon forces him to stay over at his mother's house with his ex-wife and son.