What happens to the two families in director Hirokazu Koreeda‘s film ‘Like Father, Like Son‘ (the original Japanese title is ‘Soshite chichi ni naru’) is one of the nightmares of any couple of parents. Six years after the birth of their sons they get a phone call from the maternity which tells them it is suspected that the new-born babies were swapped between the two families immediately after birth. DNA tests soon confirm the incident. They learn (and so do the spectators) that most of the couples involved in such a mismatch decide to swap back the kids in order for each family to grow their ‘line of blood’ children rather than the kids they surrounded with parental love since birth until now. The sooner the better as later swaps can be more traumatic for the children. Does this really work? As you would suspect it is not easy. It’s a great topic however for a family drama. Or melodrama. Or both.
There is no parent or future parent in the cinema hall, I believe, that does not ask in his or her mind the question ‘how would I react as parent?’. ‘Is blood relationship or the bonding built in the first six years of the boys’ lives more important?’. ‘Is this a decision of the heart or a decision of the brain?’. ‘How would my marriage cope with such a situation?’. It seems to me that film director Hirokazu Koreeda relied on this while carefully constructing the story and describing the process by which the phases of incredibility, rationalization, acceptance, decision are stepped through one after the other by the two families. While both couples and the two kids get all substance and enough screen time for their characters to develop beautifully, the story focuses on Ryota (Masaharu Fukuyama), one of the two fathers, who is a busy architect, confident and successful in his profession, but who had somehow neglected the relationship with his son.
It’s very easy for such a topic to fall into melodrama, and I do not believe that ‘Like Father, Like Son‘ completely avoids this trap. There is however a lot of true emotion that crosses the screen, due to the carefully constructed script which balances the different threads: blood line vs. existing parental relations, class gaps, the role of the wives in the decision process (not an easy topic in Japanese life and movies). Acting is very good, the whole team succeeds to make us part of the families and share their concerns and emotions as the story progresses. It’s a tough combination of topics which is eventually solved in a balanced and elegant manner. I just hope that the big American studios will not try a remake of this film too soon.