6th Okinawa International Movie Festival

Filmmaker Isao Yukisada, 45, is one of the leading Japanese directors of his generation. He’s known for such films as Spring Snow (2005) and Crying Out Love, in the Center of the World (2004). Touching human dramas and the quest for fulfillment have been the hallmarks of Yukisada’s work.

In The Round Table the director portrays an eight year-old girl and he works with adorable star Mana Ashida. Despite Ashida’s single digit age she has been in some of the best Japanese films in recent years. These include Confessions (Kokuhaku, 2010), Bunny Drop (2011) and Magic Tree House (2012), not to mention the 2013 Hollywood blockbuster Pacific Rim.

Here Ashida carries the piece in a tale about Koko, a 3^rd grader who comes from a loving family. Despite this she is full of discontent and longs to be left alone. She’s strong-willed and sharp-tongued, constantly pointing out her dissatisfaction with the adult world.

The film is set in Osaka and Ashida, along with the other child stars of the film, speaks in the charming Kansai dialect. Yukisada brilliantly directs the ensemble cast in the film adaptation of Kanako Nishi’s eponymous 2011 novel. The work delivers a sharp critique of the world we live in, ‘from the mouth of babes’ as it were.