My Neighbors the Yamadas
Although it's technically a feature film, Isao Takahata'sMy Neighbors the Yamadas(1999) plays like a series of comedy sketches or sitcom episodes. The Tokyo household of Takashi and Matsuko Yamada includes their son and daughter, Noboru and Nonoko, Matsuko's cranky mother Shige, and their lumpish dog. Stolidly middle-income and middle-class, the Yamadas have a family life that falls somewhere betweenMarried... with ChildrenandThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Affectionate but undemonstrative, they rarely face crises more challenging than a lost umbrella or what to have for dinner. But they manage to find (or create) drama within their humdrum existence: the struggle for the TV remote becomes a stylized battle that spoofs karate matches; when a girl calls Noboru, his mother and grandmother cling to him like remoras. Many of the Yamadas' adventures end with an elegant haiku. Does Basho's "How cruel, a grasshopper trapped under a warrior's helmet" really apply to Takashi Yamada? He thinks it does. Much of the film's charm comes from the loose, cartoony style that suggests pencil lines and watercolor washes. (Rated PG, Parental Guidance Suggested: Mild thematic elements)--Charles Solomon