The movie "The Mortician" | The warm embodiment of the Japanese philosophy of life and death

In the past, when I was eating with my mother at home, she especially liked to say this sentence when she finished eating:

"I'm full again, and I eat one less meal in my life."

I used to think that this sentence was a bit decadent. Eating is such a joy, and it is also an important way to continue life.

Later, after watching the movie "Entering the Mortician", I found that my mother's philosophy of life and death was actually quite optimistic like the connotation of the film. For the perception or ridicule after eating a full stomach, is not it open-mindedness and respect for life?

01

Japanese movies have never been shy about death. Whether it is "Late Night Canteen" or "Love Letter", it will use the funeral plot to unfold the parting of life and death in the world, but it is full of warm details.

In the story of the movie "The Mortician", the protagonist Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) was originally a cellist in an orchestra in Tokyo, but he lost his job as the orchestra disbanded. In desperation, he returned to yamagata's hometown with his wife, and one day he was attracted by an advertisement in the newspaper: NK Agency, helping with travel, high-paying short-term work hours. Kobayashi, who mistakenly thought it was a job advertisement issued by a travel agency, went to apply for a job, but both the receptionist and the president kept silent about the work content, and after questioning, Kobayashi learned that the work content was actually a coffin (Japanese pronunciation: Nou Kan, or NK) ceremony for the deceased!

Kobayashi hesitated for a long time after learning the job content, and finally took the job due to the high salary.

02

There is a profession in the world in which they, with tenderness and respect for the deceased, put the finishing dress of the deceased and restore their former beauty.

This is the Mortician.

03

In the world, the vast majority of people have a reluctant attitude towards death. The reason for this may be because "death" is usually closely linked to "loss." Friends and family, teachers and elders, even kittens and puppies that have been kept for a while... When these lives leave us, most people instinctively feel sad. Over time, death and the things associated with it become heavy and unspeakable.

But parting has always been an inevitable subject in life, so this film with a deep understanding of life and death, "The Mortician" was born.

Prior to this, the attitude of Eastern culture to death was taboo, and few people thought about this issue before experiencing death, let alone discussed it. And every people's understanding of life and death is very different. In the Mexican movie "Dream Quest", as long as it is not forgotten by future generations, death is not so terrible; in the Pixar movie "Journey of the Mind", death is a natural process of facing your own mental journey and finally reconciling with yourself.

The Japanese are very contradictory in this regard: on the one hand, they like fragile and perishable things, and on the other hand, they are obsessed with preserving the last decency of the deceased. But the deceased is gone, and do you really care about this decency? Not necessarily, as Yuriko in the film said, this is more to give the living the final opportunity to remember and atone for their sins, and to fulfill the wishes of the living.

Just like the deceased at the beginning, the young man of the cool shaw woman, the family hopes that he was born as a girl, and the final makeup also chooses the female style; miyuki, a bad girl who died in an accident, her mother asks Kobayashi to dress her up again as a gentle and well-behaved appearance - this is the best embodiment of the obsession of the living.

In addition to the obsession with the deceased, the living also have attachment to themselves.

Kobayashi, who was forced to model once and encountered "exciting" scenes at his first job, also wanted to give up because of instinctive disgust and fear, but when the second commission arrived, when the president was watching the president dress up and put on makeup for the deceased, he realized something different: (to the effect) that he could not do this without a gentle mood - that solemn and respectful every action was so beautiful.

It is this beauty that makes Kobayashi gradually like this job, and he does not hesitate to disagree with his wife, who has always been harmonious. Grandma who wants to wear stockings once, grandpa who leaves with kisses left by relatives... Kobayashi experienced a lot in the past few months, and when the vitality returned to the earth, his wife Mika returned to Kobayashi with a new life, but the bathhouse grandma who had asked Mika to be more tolerant of Daigo passed away.

Mika watched as Daigo sorted out her grandmother's appearance with artistic movements, and finally tied the bright yellow silk scarf that she loved when she was alive. Grandpa, a regular visitor to the bathhouse and a funeral parlor, said in front of the crematorium, "Death is like a door, and I am the gatekeeper." You can cross that door to reach the next stage of your life... I think so. ”

Some people are terrified of death, while others think that they have crossed the door to reach the next stage of life, and they can't help but sigh when they see this.

04

Entering the Mortician is a 2008 Japanese film directed by Yojiro Takita and starring Masahiro Motoki.

Japan has always been known for its rigorous craftsmanship, which is also reflected in the film and the performances of the actors. Taking "what everyone will eventually face" as the clue, the crew kept doing interviews, and even personally participated in the funeral ceremony, constantly groping for the subjects they set for themselves, and it was this spirit that made this film so good - the picture was full of Japanese beauty, the narrative was smooth as flowing clouds, and the difficult and cruel propositions became full of warmth under the Japanese expression method, which could rank in the top three of the best films in recent years.

Here, I would like to talk about the sense of viewing experience. This time the sense of viewing experience is particularly good, although the attendance rate is only one-third, but everyone quietly invests in the story, although there is a boy next to him who cries to the nose, he is still trying to restrain himself from crying. Presumably, it was the deep touch and empathy of the film story on him. The relatives next to the author have also silently wet off a few paper towels.

05

As director Yojiro Takita said: Parting is a lesson that everyone's life cannot avoid. Although everyone is far away from the question of life and death, they do not want to think about it, let alone rehearsals and rehearsals. But since people are born in this world, they know in their hearts that sooner or later that day will really come, so they will have a mentality of wanting to sneak a peek.

When the movie is re-screened in the mainland, you may wish to go into the theater with such a peeping mentality to take a lesson on parting.

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