Ai no yokan (2007)

In Tokyo, a 14-year-old junior high school girl kills a classmate. One year later, Junichi, the victim’s father, who had also lost his wife just before the incident, has quit his job and is working at an ironworks in Hokkaido. Amid the deafening noise, he works almost without speaking. Even after returning to the inn where he stays, he eats alone in silence and then goes back to his room. By chance—or perhaps not—the inn is also home to Noriko, the perpetrator’s mother, who works there as a cook. With her head bowed, Noriko quietly prepares meals; when she eats, she stands in a dim corner of the kitchen and hurriedly stuffs herself with leftovers. Whether knowingly or not, Junichi refuses to touch the food Noriko makes. He eats nothing but rice, miso soup, and raw eggs, over and over. But one day, Junichi finally tries a meal Noriko has prepared, and little by little, their relationship and their daily lives begin to change. The film repeatedly depicts the monotonous, lonely days of Junichi and Noriko. Apart from the prologue, in which each of them is interviewed about the incident, almost no dialogue is spoken.