Silence and (dis) connection | Film Screening: The Family Game
Session 1: 08 PM, Fri 10 Apr 2026
Session 2: 08 PM, Sun 12 Apr 2026
White Light Cinéhub
Floor 3, COMPLEX 01
29/31/167 Tây Sơn, Hà Nội
Registration link (each registration is for 01 guest only)
From the organizer:
Widely regarded as one of Morita’s most definitive works, “The Family Game” swept the awards that season, receiving major recognition at the Japan Academy Awards, the Blue Ribbon Awards, and Kinema Junpo. Set against the backdrop of an ordinary middle-class family, the story is imbued with Morita’s satirical humor and depicts the chaos that ensues after an unconventional home tutor arrives to help their younger son prepare for his high school entrance exams. Though based on Yohei Honma’s novel of the same name, Morita’s audacious adaptation offers thought-provoking insights into future familial dynamics. One particularly famous scene shows every family member sitting on one side of the table to eat rather than around it. Yusaku Matsuda, a longtime fan of Morita’s work, delivers a standout performance as the idiosyncratic tutor.
THE FAMILY GAME | 家族ゲーム (T16)
Yoshimitsu Morita, 1983
Duration: 107’
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Language: Japanese with Vietnamese and English subtitles
The film is suitable for children under 13 when accompanied by a parent or legal guardian
Upon completing “The Family Game”, director Yoshimitsu Morita, then only thirty-three, could not help but declare: “I am a genius; this film will top the Kinema Junpo list.” And we cannot help but believe him. For not only did the film indeed claim the magazine’s top spot that year, but today, looking back at the arid landscape of the 1980s, when the political fervor of the preceding two decades seemed to have evaporated, it is difficult to find a work as free, elusive, and formally inventive as The Family Game. Much like Ozu’s, Morita’s film demands to be approached as a ‘visual adventure’: its humor, which half-conceals a remote anarchic rage, exploits every conceivable facet of cinematic form; the reality it constructs, deliberately devoid of conventional depth, is almost cartoonish in its flatness. And one cannot overlook Morita’s unmistakable casting flair: selecting the renowned ‘bad boy’ Yusaku Matsuda to play the tutor. An uncanny, bizarrely unpredictable outsider, he introduces an energy into the Numatas’ cramped apartment that is simultaneously menacing and liberating. It is as though the film itself employs him to pose a fundamental question: is anything genuine actually transpiring within these walls, or is it all merely a game whose rules everyone has long since internalized?
Tăng Linh
About Silence and (dis) connection:
Silence and (dis) connection is the outcome of An Open Draft – Asia Film Programmers Lab, an initiative launched by the Japan Foundation. Alongside its aim to promote cultural exchange through cinema, the project also seeks to nurture a new generation of film curators and programmers in Southeast Asia and Japan.
Centered on family, the program presents five films spanning several decades of Japanese society. Across these films run a series of averted gazes, unspoken words, and quiet distances that shape human relationships. Yet, it is often within these fractures that the possibility of reconnection emerges.
Note:
– Registration is limited to 36 audience. You will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours of completing registration. Please check your spam folder or contact the White Light Cinéhub Facebook page if you don’t receive it.
– Doors open 30 minutes before showtime for seating and drink selection. Late entry is accepted up to 15 minutes after the screening begins. Please arrive on time for the best experience.
– No outside food or drinks are permitted.
– By attending, guests consent to being photographed and quoted by the project for promotional purposes.
– Coupons are non-transferable and may not be resold under any circumstances.
– If you are unable to attend after registering, please inform us at least 72 hours in advance for refund and to allow your seat to be offered to another guest.
Silence and (dis) connection, organized by White Light Cinéhub with the sponsorship of the Japan Foundation and the media support of COMPLEX 01 and Hanoi Grapevine, introduces 05 selected films with theme of family in Japanese society from the 1950s to the present. The program includes film screenings and conversations, taking place from April 3 to May 3, 2026 at White Light Cinéhub (29/31/167 Tây Sơn, Hanoi).
Follow updates on event’s page.
