Daigo Kobayashi, who bought an expensive cello and wanted to make a career, experienced 4 months of orchestral performance, but what he got was the bad news of the "dissolution of the orchestra" and the high debt of buying instruments. Forced to do so, Daigo slipped back to his hometown and did not want to become a mortician.
Although psychologically jealous, the high salary made Daigo accept the job. In the close contact with the remains of the deceased again and again, it also made Daigo let go of his jealousy. However, his father, who had betrayed his family, died suddenly, and in the process of making a funeral for his father, Daigo's hatred for his father slowly dissolved, and he also said goodbye to death.
Poster of the Chinese version of "The Mortician"
The above is the plot synopsis of "The Mortician".
It's been 13 years since it was first released in Japan, so what kind of life philosophy does this movie tell that makes people eager to watch it after 13 years?
First of all, "The Mortician" can be described as a film with high artistic standards and box office, and enjoys a high reputation in the Japanese film industry. It was the 33rd Annual Newspaper Awards (2008): Best Picture, 81st Academy Awards (2009): Best Foreign Language Film.
The Mortician won the 81st Academy Awards (2009)
Secondly, the respect for the treatment of death conveyed by the film is like the sincerity of the treatment of life, which touched the hearts of many viewers. In addition, the reconciliation between the male protagonist of the film and the father who defected from the family is very moving.
The male protagonist is led by his predecessors to make up the deceased
The film is also a good inspirational film, teaching people that in the face of adversity, they must have a calm heart, learn to reconcile with the environment, and reconcile with themselves, so as to get more growth.
The male protagonist who has a bad career often goes alone in a daze
Parting is a lesson that everyone's life cannot avoid, and it has also become the starting point of this movie.
Compared with the superb level expected by director Yojiro Takita, this film can be said to have no surprises, but there are no shortcomings. The whole film is round and neat, with ups and downs, faithfully telling a deserted industry and a growing mortician. While death has brought a profound touch to some people, it is also calm and relaxed when facing death calmly, which makes people laugh and cry.
The film was directed by Yojiro Takita
Morticians can be understood as funeral workers. Japanese morticians have a complete set of work procedures, using alcohol to clean the body, change clothes, make up, coffins, etc. Ordinary people have an inexplicable dislike and jealousy of the mortician, from the general "unclean" to the inner rejection and fear, the real reason is still the fear of death itself.
One: Death is not the opposite of life, but the reconciliation with life
The Great Enlightenment in "The Mortician" has these helpless encounters, at the beginning he felt lowly and hidden, vomited on the spot at the first job, and then there was discrimination by friends and his wife leaving home. He persevered in all the impossible situations, and the matter of borrowing the funeral erased the knots of many years.
Under the meticulous treatment of the mortician, the body became peaceful and natural, and when witnessing the last appearance, the relatives could remember the beauty more and the feelings of remembrance were doubled. The mortician is no longer a cold job that does not require emotion, and an artistic relationship is established between the mortician and the body.
A discussion of life and death in the play
"Entering the Mortician" sets up Daigo to practice cello since childhood, and arranges for him to play solo under the blue sky and snowy mountains, which is a common theme sublimation, and also corresponds to Daigo's "burial art", which further shows the formality and solemnity of entering the funeral in addition to sensationalism.
The cello sets off the atmosphere of the film
When relatives see the deceased put on makeup, tears come out of their eyes.
Seeing the deceased wearing the lipstick she usually liked and wearing the clothes she loved when she was alive, it was as if she was just asleep.
The elaborate makeup for the deceased was substituted for the sincerity of the mortician, and the family really felt the affection.
Let the dead woman be more beautiful, let the deceased boy do what he wants to do more.
In the film, the granddaughter said that after her grandmother died, she would wear her beloved stockings
When his father who defected from his family when he was young, he passed away, and Daigo personally buried him, and the scenes of the past were played in Daigo's mind, and the way his father loved him was to give him a different small stone every year.
忽然有天父亲背叛了母亲，逃离了家庭，从今以后再也没有和大悟母子联系。 Daigo's "hatred" for his father has always been unable to let go.
Daigo recalls the pact between his father and him when he was a child
Suddenly, one day, Dawu received a phone call, and the other party asked him to go to an apartment somewhere and help a deceased old man to be buried. When Daigo saw the old man, he found that it was his biological father, whom he had not met for decades.
Daigo personally put on makeup for his father
In the process of Daigo's meticulous burial of his father, his father's appearance gradually became clear in Daigo's mind. The father who once loved him had a warm smile and was humble.
His father's countenance gradually became clear in Daigo's mind
在整理父亲遗物时，清贫的父亲，偌大的几个收纳箱子里面，几乎没有什么贵重物品。 Daigo found that there was a box containing many large and small stones, and the original father's love and commitment to him had not changed in the future. In an instant, Daigo understood his father's heart.
When his father died, he still had a stone in his hand to send Daigo
Father's affection- The fall of the adult's complex and fragile ending stone letter also expresses his father's concern for Daigo.
The love given by his wife reconciles Daigo's uneasy life.
His wife's love gave Daigo a lot of comfort
Second: Life is not satisfactory, you need to face it calmly
In the Japanese view of life and death, there is no clear boundary between life and death. The film often arranges animals related to life and death at the turning point of the plot: Daigo is unemployed, the couple releases octopuses and decides to return to their hometown; when he is first frustrated, he sees fish corpses floating in the water.
In addition, there are swans on several occasions, and in addition to noble purity, it is also a symbol of the desire for life. What should not be ignored is also the admiration when eating puffer fish white, and the footage of eating chicken on Christmas Eve emphasizes that only by getting rid of the shadow of death can people enjoy life and live calmly.
"The Mortician" exudes a cordial human touch, the film focuses on showing the affection in different family relationships, and it is easy to explain that it can win the favor of local middle-aged and elderly audiences. So why did the film get favored by the Oscars? If "Entering the Mortician" has a novel component, it is still a unique cultural aesthetic of Japan, such as the process of entering the funeral.
In addition, the story is easy to understand, there are laughs and sensationalism, and the cello and other content will not create barriers. Crucially, in the Western world, death-related behavior often involves religion, and the involvement of The Mortician with religion is almost non-existent (the president has a corresponding sentence, saying that he does not believe in the three major religions), which clearly provides an alternative Oriental perspective.
Some Japanese commentators further pointed out that since the "9/11 incident", the Afghan war to the financial crisis, The American outlook on life and values have continued to be impacted. "The Mortician" seems to be talking about different deaths throughout, but in fact, it is a reminder to the living: not afraid of death, in order to live better.
The film brings together many respectable creators, and Mr. Hisaishi injects unparalleled music into this work. The male protagonist Masahiro Motoki spent a long time observing and learning for this special role, and even practiced the cello every day after filming. The work "The Mortician" allows all kinds of talents to collide in it, and produces the greatest chemical reaction.
Soundtrack master Hisaishi Jean
Christmas three people eat together, followed by a gentle piano sound, really beautiful, so beautiful that people do not want time to continue.
As for the true feelings of the characters in the film, I believe that audiences in different countries can feel it.
As "Cinema Paradiso" said, life is much more difficult than movies, but fortunately there are movies that reconcile themselves. As an audience, have you reached a reconciliation with your own life? Many times, we face the workplace, face feelings, face family affection, as long as we can calmly face many unsatisfactory, so that we can calmly and unhurriedly cope, it is a kind of reconciliation.