The Milkwoman

The story

Minako (TANAKA Yuko), begins her day running up and down the hills of her hometown delivering milk door to door. When that's done, she heads to her day job as a supermarket cashier. Minako is 50 and single. In one of the houses to which she delivers milk is a man with whom she has secretly been in love since high school. The man, Keita (KISHIBE Ittoku), lives with his wife Yoko, who is terminally ill. Caring for her at home, he works in the children's affairs section of the local municipal office. Though he insists that he wants nothing more than an "ordinary" existence, his life is in turmoil below the surface. The director uses a variety of narrative devises to portray the loneliness, isolation, and hope of these people who have seemingly allowed their goals and dreams to slip away, whilst keeping them agonizingly close to hand.

Cast

Y Yuko TanakaMinako Oba I Ittoku KishibeKaita Takanashi A Akiko NishinaYoko Takanashi K Koichi UedaMasao Minagawa T Teruyuki KagawaManager of Super Market I Ippei SoudaMilk Shop Owner H Hazuki KōzuNurse Watanabe R Rakuko TaneKimiko Ito E Erika MabuchiMari Yoshida T Tatsuo YamadaYujiro Kawai Y Yûrei YanagiManager of Child Guidance Center S Sawa SuzukiChiyo Oba

See more cast

M Misako WatanabeToshiko Minagawa T Tarō SuwaGallery Owner D Den FujitaOld Man at City Office T Tetta SugimotoTakanashi K Keisuke Horibe N Noriko Eguchi Y Yosuke Ishii K Kayako Okuda N Nobuto Yamaguchi H Hiroko Suwa R Ryuzo Tanaka