Ken Uehara

Hiroshi Shimizu's endearing road movie follows the long and winding route of a sweet-natured bus driver, nicknamed Mr. Thank You for his constant exclamation to pedestrians who kindly step out of his way, traveling from rural Izu to Tokyo. Romance and comedy occur, and tragedy threatens his passengers, a virtual microcosm of depression-era Japan.

Kinoshita’s ambitious and intensely moving film begins as a multigenerational epic about the military legacy of one Japanese family, before settling into an emotionally complex portrayal of parental love during wartime. As the mother and father of a boy shipped off to battle, Kinuyo Tanaka and Chishu Ryu locate profound depths of feeling that transcend ideology.