This restrained family drama, shot almost entirely in black-and-white, is dedicated to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, but also to the 31,560 people who committed suicide in Japan in 2010. The famous actor Nakadai Tatsuya (Kagemusha, Ran) plays a retired widower diagnosed with lung cancer. He doesn’t want to be treated, shuts himself up in the room with the altar for his deceased wife and refuses food and drink. This, despite the pleas of his son who lost his wife and daughter in the tsunami.
Japan’s Tragedy is set entirely in this house, while in flashbacks the prior history unfolds: the son, who is hit by unemployment and depression, is sad that he cannot live up to the expectations of parents and family.
Kobayashi (The Rebirth), Filmmaker in Focus 2008 and never afraid to tackle issues that are sensitive in Japan, chooses a sober, apparently classic style. This story about helplessness and loneliness again reveals his humanist gaze.
Film details
- Country of production
- Japan
- Year
- 2012
- Festival edition
- IFFR 2013
- Length
- 101'
- Medium/Format
- HDcam
