''The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)'' is a 2020 fiction film directed by C.W. Winter and

Anders Edström Anders Edström (born 1966) is a Swedish film director and photographer, living in Tokyo. His films, made with long-time collaborator C.W. Winter, include '' The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin)'' (2020). Life and work Eds ...

. It describes life in a farming village, population 47, in the Shiotani basin in the Japanese prefecture of

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

. It is the second feature-length collaboration between C.W. Winter and Anders Edström after their 2009 film, ''The Anchorage''.

Plot

The film, which takes its title from Hesiod's Ancient Greek farmer's almanac ''

Works and Days ''Works and Days'' ()The ''Works and Days'' is sometimes called by the Latin translation of the title, ''Opera et Dies''. Common abbreviations are ''WD'' and ''Op'' for ''Opera''. is a didactic poem written by ancient Greek poet Hesiod around ...

'', is presented in five chapters as it examines the daily routine of Tayoko, an elderly woman and farmer who lives in Shiotani. The film follows Tayoko as she cares for and prepares to mourn her husband, Junji, and features excerpts read from Tayoko's real-life diaries.

Cast

* Tayoko Shiojiri as Tayoko * Hiroharu Shikata as Hiroharu * Ryo Kase as Ryo Sasaki * Mai Edström as Mai * Kaoru Iwahana as Junji * Jun Tsunoda as Kagawa * Masahiro Motoki as NPC

Production

The film was inspired by a series of conversations between Winter, Edström, and Tayoko, who is Edström's real life mother-in-law. It was shot for a total of 27 weeks across a 14-month period. At 480 minutes long, it is one of the longest films ever made.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the 2020

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

. It had its U.S. theatrical release on July 16, 2021 and its French theatrical release on June 22, 2022.

Critical response

The film received critical acclaim. Mark Peranson for ''

Cinema Scope ''Cinema Scope'' was an English-language film magazine published in Toronto, Canada. History and profile The first issue of ''Cinema Scope'' was published in 1999. Up until 2022, the magazine compiled a list of the top ten films of each year. ...

'' called the film "an utterly confident, magisterial effort that will stand the test of time." In La Internacional Cinéfila, Agnès Wildenstein called it, "The best movie of the year. A tremendous cinematic pleasure. And a film that will remain in the history of cinema." Jordan Cronk, writing for ''

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

'', described the film as a "comprehensive look at a vanishing way of life...uncommonly poignant and profound." Writing for ''

Le Monde (; ) is a mass media in France, French daily afternoon list of newspapers in France, newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average print circulation, circulation of 480,000 copies per issue in 2022, including ...

'', Clarise Fabré called the film "a masterpiece."

Accolades

The film won the Encounters Golden Bear for Best Film at the 2020

. It won Best Independent/Experimental Film of the Year from the

Los Angeles Film Critics Association The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975. Background Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles–based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organi ...

. It also won Best Film prizes at the Punto de Vista International Documentary Film Festival and Black Canvas film festivals. It made dozens of end of the year Ten Best lists.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Works and Days, The 2020 independent films Films set in Kyoto Prefecture