Odayaka

The suburb of Tokyo where this latest film by Uchida Nobuteru is set may be far from the disaster zone in northeastern Japan, but this does not reduce the psychological aftershocks of the earthquake on 11 March 2011. Two young women are very worried about the radioactivity that escaped from the nuclear power plant at Fukushima and rebel against the common tendency to act as if everything is under control. Saeko, deserted on the day of the disaster by her husband, is accused of being a troublemaker at her daughter’s school. Yukako has great difficulty persuading her husband to ask for a transfer.
Using the ironic title Odayaka na nichijo (which can be translated as 'Calm Daily Life'), Japanese unity falls from its pedestal. While refugees from the disaster zone face discrimination, the fear and uncertainty of Saeko and Yukako leads to an emotional denouement. Just as in Love Addiction (Tiger Awards Competition 2011), in this realistic low-budget film, Uchida depends very much on his actors.