Extreme Orient 3

The Land of Hope is a fictional drama about the struggle to survive, after an earthquake causes the reactor at the nearby nuclear power plant to explode. Our own nuclear power station at Avoine is only about 19k away, so the film held some resonances for local audiences. 

The Ono family consisting of two elderly parents (the mother has dementia), son and daughter-in-law, who are at the heart of the story, own, run and live on a small farm, primarily dairy, with a herd of about sixty cows. Some vegetables are also grown. The explosion presents a terrible dilemma for the parents, who remembering a earlier disaster, have to decide whether or not to stay and risk radiation poisoning or leave the family home and garden that several generations have spent building. 

Whilst the story in the film is fictional, the family memories and the subsequent response to the situation as it develops is based on real events at Fukushima in 2011. The father Yasuhiko forces his son to leave home with his wife, for their own safety. leaving the father and his wife Chieko in total isolation, as all the other neighbours have by now been evacuated. The Land of Hope was at times deeply moving, mainly because of the fabulous performances by Naoko Otani and Isai Natsuyagi as the elderly parents. They just broke your heart with their devotion and love for each other and their determination to stay in the family home.