South African cleric, Desmond Tutu, once famously said, “You don’t choose your family.” But German filmmaker Werner Herzog’s Japanese film Family Romance, LLC seems to believe otherwise. Last year, a popular news story in The New Yorker exposed Japan’s ‘rent-a-family-member’ industry to the world, which has several other players besides just this one firm. In fact, the article extends its …
In the curiosity shop that is the oeuvre of filmmaker Werner Herzog, “Family Romance, LLC” fits right in. Though a slighter offering, it continues Herzog’s fascination with the enigmatic nature of humanity, this time via the longstanding Japanese phenomenon of renting people to pose as relatives, friends or colleagues. The film opens with a longish scene in which a father …
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Werner Herzog, a true doyen of film, finds inspiration in the …
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