Hirokazu Kore-eda

Families assembled rather than inherited, observed without verdict. Kore-eda returns to the question of what actually makes a parent — blood, time, or the willingness to stay — and answers it differently each time. Children are directed to behave like children, and the camera waits.

Signature

• Domestic routine — meals, baths, laundry — carrying the emotional load.
• Children performing naturally, often working from spoken rather than written direction.
• Ellipses over confrontation; the crisis happens between scenes.
• Moral judgement deferred to the viewer, including on people who do real harm.