Synopsis
The master of a dorayaki pastry store hires a 76-year-old woman whose talents attract customers from all over. But she's hiding a troubling secret. Life's joys are found in the little details, and no matter what may be weighing you down, everyone loves a good pastry.
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Cast
- Kirin KikiTokue
- Masatoshi NagaseSentaro
- Kyara UchidaWakana
- Miki MizunoWakana's Mother
- Etsuko IchiharaYoshiko
- Miyoko AsadaShop Owner's Wife
- Taiga NakanoYohei
- Wakato KanematsuWakato
- SakiMiddle School Girl
- Miu TakeuchiMiddle School Girl
Recommendations
- 90
The New York Times
The movie, beautifully shot and acted, earns its ultimate sense of hope by confronting real heartbreak head-on, and with compassion. - 83
The Film Stage
A well-crafted mainstream effort with accessible emotions and that whiff of Kawase-que zen. - 60
CineVue
Sweet Red Bean Paste is a modest film which seeks profundity in the detail of life. - 60
Variety
Just as An itself seems on the verge of flying away, however, Kawase rewards her audience with an unapologetically contrived but effectively eye-moistening surge of feeling. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
Director Naomi Kawase’s adaptation of Durian Sukegawa’s novel An aims so low that it makes good on its modest ambitions. - 50
Screen Daily
The clichés start to arrive in rapid succession. Even the most moving performances cannot disguise their obviousness. - 50
The A.V. Club
What makes this film more potentially enticing to Westerners than the seven films that preceded it? Two words: food porn. - 42
IndieWire
The movie is not without some small pleasures...but neither character is developed beyond broad characteristics, in spite of them occupying 95% of the film's taxing two-hour running time.
