The Works and Days

The Works and Days

C.W. Winter, Anders Edström / 2020 / 480 minutes (4 parts)

The Works and Days (of Tayoko Shiojiri in the Shiotani Basin) is an extraordinary eight-hour fiction feature shot for a total of 27 weeks, over a period of 14 months, in a village of 47 inhabitants in the mountains of Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. It is a geographic description of the work and non-work of a farmer. A portrait, over five seasons, of a family, of a terrain, of a soundscape, and of duration itself. It is a film that takes the time to spend time and hear people out, with a performance by Tayoko Shiojiri that binds fiction and actual bereavement into a heartbreaking indeterminability.

  • “An utterly confident, magisterial effort that will stand the test of time. The Works and Days is a salute to the possibilities provided by cinema, a celebration of life.”

    — Mark Peranson, Cinema Scope

  • “Masterful. A monumental vision that earns its runtime.”

    — Glen Heath Jr., The Film Stage

  • “One of the best films of the year. At once intimate and expansive…. More than a film to watch, The Works and Days is an experience that engulfs.”

    — Erika Balsom, Artforum

  • “The film is a life event in and of itself. Its homey environs and lushly photographed natural world induce a heightening of the senses and an attention to lovely subtleties of light, color and fellow feeling.”

    — Nic Rapold, The New York Times

  • “Epic. Uncommonly poignant, even profound. A comprehensive look at a vanishing way of life. “

    — Jordan Cronk, Artforum
Trailer / Clips
Stills

Where to Watch

Film at Lincoln Center

New York, NY

07/16/2021

Lumiere Music Hall

Los Angeles, CA

07/23/2021