AllMovie

The echoes of a broken marriage return to haunt its survivors in The Dark Corners of the Shelves, Hajime Kadoi's sensitive observational portrait of lives in disarray. Long ago, Yoko, the wife of toy store proprietor Yasuo and the mother of young Tsuyoshi, left her family to pursue a relationship with a young lover. Understandably devastated and reeling from the sense of betrayal, Yasuo survived this calamity by marrying his second wife, Hideko, who took Tsuyoshi as a stepson and fostered a deep-seated maternal commitment to raising him. Now, eight years later, Yoko oddly turns up again in Yasuo's toy store, and purchases a toy from the recesses of the shop. But such is not an isolated incident: time and again, Yoko visits the store, raising lingering questions in Yasuo's mind about her reasons for being there. In truth, Yoko feels unable to commit to current boyfriend Shindo (or to accept his marriage proposals) because she still pines for the family she abandoned.