Oshin

Ratings: 7.0/10

Film Class: C

Genre: Drama (Japanese)

Oshin is a young girl born in a destitute family who was sent to work as a live-in-servant at the young age of seven. Her 2 older sisters (whom we never get to see) had also sent off to work, though back then they were not as young as Oshin. Her family was living in such poverty that they had no choice but to send her to work for a year in exchange for just 2 bags of rice so as to feed their family. However, she was ill-treated and accused of a theft she didn't commit, resulting in her escaping from the family. Saved by a soldier deserter, they soon form a friendship, though short-lived, that will forever change the life of this young girl with an unbreakable spirit. This is a story of Oshin, a story of women. 

Though the DVD synopsis kinda stopped there, at the soldier deserter, it turned out that this lengthy movie was sort of a 2-part mini series... The beginning of Oshin and her friendship with the soldier deserter, and her bond with a grandmother of yet another wealthy family... who taught her the real meaning of life. 

It was extremely dreary. *major spoilers ahead* There didn't seem to be a sliver lining anywhere in the movie, until the grandmother showed up. But still, not one I will watch again. Briefly put, this movie glorifies women, the hardship they had to go through during the olden days (Meiji period I believe - read it from Wikipedia though not mentioned in the film) in Japan, and it tells of the extreme poverty side of life back then. They were so poor Oshin didn't even know what "fresh" rice tasted like. 

Even though it sounds almost heart-breaking, it's not. I know it's a bit of a contradiction. But dreary doesn't necessarily mean heart-breaking. I was more awed by the unbreakable spirit of Oshin, as opposed to feeling sorry for her, or her family. It wasn't until the last part of the movie when the kind-hearted grandmother gave 2 valuable lines of advice to her about women (worth sitting through the movie for), that it all fell into place - what the moral of the story was. 

In fact the movie made guys look like wimps, the guys were rather useless who pretended to be useful around the house when in fact it was the woman who supported the family. That was the only part I didn't like. 

It was eye-opening, and though it ended rather abruptly, it was just right. I didn't see how better it could have ended, cos her agony felt like a never-ending one, but the director made his point with that last scene, that Oshin is not about working for a better life, its about finding light in what seemed like eternal darkness. It's not about hope, it's about purpose.