Synopsis
In 1936, Taki leaves her hometown in the countryside to work as a maid at a somewhat modern house with a red gabled roof in the suburbs of Tokyo. It is the tranquil home of kindhearted Tokiko, her husband Masaki, and their adorable son. However, when a young man Itakura enters their lives, Tokiko finds herself irresistibly drawn toward him. Several years on, Taki has passed away. While sorting through her belongings, Takeshi finds an unaddressed, unopened envelope containing a letter.

Program Note
The Little House features MATSU Takako, an actress known as the leading lady of melodrama films and TSUMABUKI Satoshi,
 Japan’s young iconic actor who has worked across genres. The film’s winner of the Silver Bear at the 64th Berlin International Film
 Festival was not TSUMABUKI Satoshi who delivered an impressive portrayal of a contemporary youth looking back on the Second
 World War. Neither MATSU Takako, who brought back to life an upper middle class woman suffering in the grip of an unfortunate
 affair, nor the veteran actress BAISHO Chieko’s tears of remorse as a woman who had been a maid her entire life, was enough to
 earn the award. In fact, the Silver Bear was awarded to KUROKI Haru who played the younger self of BAISHO Chieko’s character.
 KUROKI Haru portrayed the quiet young maid from the countryside whose head was bowed down most of the time. In The Little
 House, the everyday life of a toy company owner’s family and their maid, who live in a western style house designed after some
 illustration from a picture book, and tragic love are delicately woven together. The era interlaced in this way becomes dislocated by
 the war. The picture is never completed and both people and their love are buried. However, the truth can never be concealed and
 buried no matter how hard we try. Nor is it possible to bring back people and save love. Based on NAKAJIMA Kyoko’s novel of the
 same title that won the 143rd Naoki Prize, this film incorporates Virginia Lee BURTON’s The Little House into the original story, as if
 to hide a secret inside a confession. No matter how much the world changes, the little house remains strong. [LEE Angela]