Flowers (2010)

Spring, 1936. Rin is troubled by an arranged marriage, a custom of the time in which parents chose their children’s spouses. Still anxious about marrying someone she has never met, she reaches the day before the wedding. On the wedding day, unable to make up her mind, Rin runs away from home in her bridal clothes. Summer, 1969. Nearly 30 years have passed since Rin ran away, and she now has three daughters. Her second daughter, Midori, works at a publishing company as a career woman—a rarity at the time. Midori’s boyfriend proposes to her, but after working so hard in a male-dominated society, she begins to feel torn between her career and marriage. She returns to her family home and sees her older sister, Kaoru, who has also come home, for the first time in a while. Kaoru lost her husband in a traffic accident, and the emotional wounds she suffered then have yet to fully heal. She finds herself recalling the trip she took soon after her husband’s death, visiting places from the honeymoon they had shared. Autumn, 1977. Rin’s third daughter, Kei, is living happily with her husband and daughter, Kanade. But when Kei becomes pregnant with a second child, changes begin to emerge in the family’s life. Kei has been physically frail since birth, and her doctor tells her, “You won’t be able to withstand childbirth.” Winter, 2009. Kei’s elder daughter, Kanade, moves to Tokyo to pursue her dream of becoming a pianist, but feels she has reached the limits of her talent. Then, just after breaking up with her younger boyfriend, she discovers that she is pregnant. She struggles with these two worries. Meanwhile, her younger sister, Yoshie, gets married and gives birth to a boy. Naturally cheerful, Yoshie carries a strong desire to live positively, in place of her mother, Kei, who gave birth to her at the cost of her own life.