Miwa Nishikawa’s professional association with Hirokazu Kore-eda, one of Japan’s most internationally acclaimed directors, goes back two decades, when she served as a crew member on his early films. Her latest film, the richly layered “Under the Open Sky,” was made with his Bun-buku production company. Based on a 1990 novel by Ryuzo Saki, it’s Nishikawa’s first adaptation from another’s work: She had previously directed only from her own original scripts.

Interestingly, her ex-con protagonist resembles that of Kore-eda’s 2017 courtroom drama, “The Third Murder.” Both have been in prison for murder and both are played by the superbly versatile Koji Yakusho.

But Nishikawa is no Kore-eda clone. More so than her mentor, she has a populist streak that shows itself in the film’s moments of broad humor and tearful emotionality.