The Japanese Dog

In this understated first feature about family reconciliation, Victor Rebengiuc (Forest of the Hanged, Niki and Flo) plays Costache, a man who has lost his wife, his house, and all of his possessions in a flood. The unexpected return of his son, Ticu, from Japan forces the two to learn how to communicate and become a family again. Costache becomes a real grandfather to his 7-year-old grandson, while Ticu rectifies mistakes from his past. Something like a Romanian film as directed by Yasujiro Ozu, this New Directors/New Films 2014 selection is Romania’s entry in the upcoming foreign-language Oscar race.