Sweet Bean

Eiga Sai

Japanese Film Festival

Cinema 2, Shang Cineplex

Three completely different characters come together in this deeply poignant film about solitude, discrimination, second chances and redemption.

Everyday it is the same routine for a lonely baker who sells dorayaki which are Japanese mini pancakes with red bean paste. He wakes up really early to prepare the ingredients and sells them in a small street side shop. His clients are mostly students and local folks within the community.

One day an old woman approaches him to ask if he needed help and told him she was willing to work. At first, he refuses as his funds are limited. Yet each morning she persisted until he agreed and told her he can't really pay her much. 

The business though pick up when the old lady teaches him to make the red bean paste from scratch. It turns out to be a major process as it involves choosing the correct sizes of the red beans, cooking them at low heat, then letting it set for several hours before it is ready to be put inside the mini pancakes. 

A tedious and complicated procedure but it pays off as word of mouth spreads through the community and long queues are formed outside of his tiny shop every day. He also decides to let a young student help him out as he couldn't do everything with the brisk sales of his dorayaki.  

In between the cooking and the sales, the baker slowly opens up about his troubled past to the old lady who herself has been hiding a serious ailment. Their bond start to get stronger but alas it was not meant to last as an incident prompts the old lady to stop 'working' at the shop.

It is one of the most beautiful and sentimentally touching films I have ever seen in my entire 48 years of existence. It has a simple setting with a typical Japanese small town with its cherry blossoms trees and pristine streets. The plot unfolds at a slow yet steady pace. Yet with every scene, a myriad of emotions will hit you from happiness to sadness and everything else in between. The three main characters essay their roles with much depth and dimension without resorting to special effects but relying merely on their sheer intense acting skills.

Be prepared to reach for you hankies or tissues or whatever you can as I am sure your tears will flow down your face. No shame in that, we are just sentimental human beings, after all.