[5] When Nishikawa went on to write and direct her first feature film, the September 2003 release, Wild Berries, Koreeda was the producer.
"[17] At the forefront of a constantly growing ring of contemporary Japanese film makers, Nishikawa attempts to sidestep issues of gender by embracing conventional imagery, representations and style.
[19] Miwa Nishikawa's first feature film; in collaboration with Hirokazu Koreeda, a drama as well as an ironic comedy, launched her into the limelight.
Wild Berries is a story of an ordinary family that turns unstable when their frivolous son Shuji returns home after a long absence.
The boyfriend claims he is charmed by the Akechi's Industry, but the viewer finds out that the father is unemployed and slaving for money.
At the grandfathers funeral, the prodigal son Shuji makes a grand entrance, narrowly saving Yoshiro (The Father) from an angry creditor.
[23] The Japanese film, which stars Odagiri Jo and opened on only six screens in South Korea in August 2006, set the record for an "independent" movie by pulling 300,000 admissions in only fifteen days.
Barely anything has changed; he is still the spoiled brat, the father is still a bully, the pushover brother Minoru is still working at the gas station and Hayakawa's Ex, Chieko, is still available.
Visiting their childhood romping ground of Hasumi Gorge, the tension gives way to confrontation on an old rickety rope bridge.
[25] A recent medical-school graduate, Keisuke is mentored by the two and learns what his big city degree didn't teach him, the emotional connection between doctor and patient.
[26] His wife Natsuko had ventured to the ski slopes one winter with Yuki Omiya, a highschool friend, when their bus plunges off the mountain killing them both.
Meanwhile, Kei has taken advantage of Natsuko's absence and is in the midst of carnal pleasure at the time of the accident, leaving him guilty and grieving.
Kei also discovers an unsent text addressed to him on his wife's phone that reads: "I don't love you anymore.