"Being Two Isn't Easy" is a must-see movie for any parent, but especially for parents of toddlers. I laughed, out loud, constantly through the beginning of the movie, which takes place from the viewpoint of the baby, Taro, and also from the viewpoints of the beleaguered and bewildered parents. The subtle competition between the mother and father over who is the better parent was hysterical as was the unwanted advice given to the mother. The funniest scene was a family trip to the zoo, where Taro immediately got lost, and after retrieving him from the very crowded "Lost Child's Room", the mother's self-castigation was very true to life.
If this series of vignettes had continued, I would have rated the movie higher, but unfortunately, it seemed a social agenda had to be filled as well as a plot had to be followed. The social agenda seemed to have something to do with Japan needing daycare? (Who knows?) ***Spoiler Alert*** A child falls off a balcony (and is caught by a milkman), and when the mother is told of this (she's at the park with another kid), she is thankful, but instead of rushing home to see if the child is okay, she nods and then goes off about how children are a handful and that they need day cares to look after them. I would have checked to see if the child was fine, or at least gone to give them a hug, and then to berate the caregiver who wasn't paying attention to let the child fall off a balcony. The movie mother's lackadaisical attitude was perplexing.
The plot involves our little family moving in with the grandmother and the amusing competition of parenting styles between mama and grandma. I felt they could have mined the humour in the original setting even more, but I still found myself giggling away at the exploits of Taro and company.
It has been hard to find other films by Kon Ichikawa on video or DVD, but based on this movie, I'd love to see others.
If this series of vignettes had continued, I would have rated the movie higher, but unfortunately, it seemed a social agenda had to be filled as well as a plot had to be followed. The social agenda seemed to have something to do with Japan needing daycare? (Who knows?) ***Spoiler Alert*** A child falls off a balcony (and is caught by a milkman), and when the mother is told of this (she's at the park with another kid), she is thankful, but instead of rushing home to see if the child is okay, she nods and then goes off about how children are a handful and that they need day cares to look after them. I would have checked to see if the child was fine, or at least gone to give them a hug, and then to berate the caregiver who wasn't paying attention to let the child fall off a balcony. The movie mother's lackadaisical attitude was perplexing.
The plot involves our little family moving in with the grandmother and the amusing competition of parenting styles between mama and grandma. I felt they could have mined the humour in the original setting even more, but I still found myself giggling away at the exploits of Taro and company.
It has been hard to find other films by Kon Ichikawa on video or DVD, but based on this movie, I'd love to see others.