Taking the opportunity of re-screening, I felt the 4k restored version of "Entering the Mortician". In the post-screening exchange session, a girl choked up when she spoke - she said that when she watched this movie, she remembered her grandmother, and her heart was full of emotions, and when she talked about this, she still couldn't help but choke back tears.
This detail is very moving, I believe that everyone present at the time was touched.
When I shared after the screening, I mentioned that "The Mortician" will have different feelings at different ages, because our feelings about the film often change with our own experiences - places that were not felt before will suddenly be poked, places that were not understood before will become very empathetic, and places that were previously touched will become more profound.
There are three moments in the movie that will still make me very moved. The first is the protagonist Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) who follows the president (Yamazaki Tsutomu) for the first time to perform a "coffin" ceremony for a man's deceased wife, and the two are reprimanded by the man for being a few minutes late, making people feel that the man is a person with a big temper. When the president patiently sorted out the appearance of the deceased, the man sitting in the front row had a cold expression, and seemed to be a person with a very cold heart.
But when the president was about to put the deceased into the coffin, the expressionless, cold-looking man suddenly burst into tears, and heavy sadness was written on his face.
It turned out that he loved his wife, and his heart was actually flowing with emotions, although he had seemed to have a big temper and was very cold before, but in fact, when he really realized that his wife was no longer alive, he was so sad. Many times, people's tenderness and love are hidden in the heart, and it will be very touching to show it in a certain moment.
The second is that after the death of the bathhouse grandmother, Daigo completed a professional and meticulous "coffin" ceremony in front of his wife and friends, which not only made the latter realize the significance of his work, but also gave his friend who was the son of his grandmother a deep understanding. Before the body was cremated, he applied to Uncle Masayoshi Hirata (Takashi Sasano), who worked at a funeral home, to see his mother again. The uncle who usually sat in his mother's bathhouse to study chess games had a very good relationship with his mother, and warmed up their old age with each other.
The uncle was actually very sad in his heart, but he did not show too much excitement, but said this paragraph very calmly: "Death is like a door, death is not the end, but through it into the next world." It's like a door, and I'm the gatekeeper, sending away countless people here and saying to them: All the way, see you in the next life. ”
This passage is an important line in the film to convey its concept of life and death. Combined with the uncle's previous whispered "We, see you in the next life" when Daigo covered his grandmother's coffin, you will feel very moved. And when the uncle pressed the ignition start button, the son who had always persuaded his mother to sell the bathhouse cried and said, "Mom, I'm sorry." At this moment, as an audience member, I was also deeply touched.
The third moment takes place at the end of the film. Daigo and his wife go to see their father, who died alone in a foreign land, and before that, Daigo resents his mother's life and the lack of his father's love caused by his father's departure from the family. He remembered that his father had exchanged "stone letters" with him when he was a child, but he no longer remembered his father's appearance.
He had not seen his father for many years, and when he heard the news of his death, he was initially reluctant to pay attention to it, and finally went to pick him up under the persuasion of his wife. Looking at his lonely father, Daigo's heart did not seem to have changed particularly obviously. It wasn't until he was sorting out his father's coffin that a stone fell from his already stiff palm that his heart really had emotional ups and downs.
It turned out that his father had been clinging to the "stone letter" given to him by Daigo, and it turned out that his father had been thinking about his son. Director Yojiro Takita used this gentle detail to reconcile the Daigo father and son, and also moved the audience in front of the screen to tears.
Yes, the good thing about "The Mortician" is that it has that kind of touching emotional expression in it, and there is also a philosophical discussion about life and death.
This Japanese work, which was reviewed by nearly 500,000 people and rated 8.9, is a masterpiece of emotional delicacy, soothing rhythm and healing of the soul. It can not only make us harvest and move, but also let us have new cognition in our thoughts and concepts. There are many realistic performances about life in the film, as well as warm expressions about the relationship between husband and wife, father and son feelings, and more discussions about life and death, which are worth savoring with heart.
ps: The text is the author's original, and the pictures are from the network.