I came to realize that it was not only me looking out for my foster- mother,
but there were actually moments when she was offering peace of
mind to me. Gradually an image of an elderly person trekking through a
mountain in order to visit his wife’s grave came to me. By adding a person
to care for him, I began to imagine the moment when the standpoints
of career and patient turn upside down.
Shigeki lives in a small retirement home. He feels comfortable and happy here with the other residents and the gentle and caring hospital staff. Machiko, one of the home’s staff pays special attention to him. However she is secretly haunted by the loss of her child.
After celebrating Shigeki’s birthday Machiko decides to take him for a drive in the countryside. Making their way along the scenic back-roads the car is forced into a ditch and it is here that they embark on their journey of discovery together.
As Shigeki determinedly heads off into the forest, Machiko has no choice but to follow. After two exhausting days trudging through the dense wood they finally arrive at Shigeki’s wife’s tomb. It is in this peaceful place that Machiko discovers that Shigeki has been writing to his beloved wife for 33 years. It is time for him to write his last letter. Devoted Machiko is there to help him reach his mourning’s end and in doing so finds peace within her heart. “My parents had already divorced when I was born, and my mother entrusted me to her aunt Kawase Uno before remarrying.
When I was in my twenties, my mother told me clearly, “If I had been a weaker person when I fell pregnant I would not have had you.” With this realization, I learned that the alienation I feel is something I could trace back to the moment of my birth.
The fact that I was nurtured in my mother’s womb means that I had a connection to her then, yet the moment the umbilical cord was cut, my “loss” became permanent. Thanks to my great-aunt and uncle, however, who were always close to me, I learned to understand love and kindness, and perhaps some notion of divine presence etc. They introduced me to the beauty of nature (especially the mountains) and the experience of coming face to face with nature taught me that the world isn’t all about human beings. In the film, I think my own personal view of life is reflected in the character of Shigeki and his living through the memory of his dead wife. But these factors aren’t autobiographical. The story of The Mourning Forest is rather a reflection of the emotions within me.
At the end, Shigeki says, “Let’s sleep in the soil”. This could be taken to mean death, but for Shigeki, this is a place of peace. Lying together with his wife, humming the melody that his wife used to play, he is truly at peace. This is also the 33rd year since his wife passed away, which means in Japanese Buddhism that this is a way post year. It is the year when a departed person will never return to this world again, going instead to the land of the Buddha. In other words, Shigeki did not come just to meet his wife at her grave. He came to say goodbye and thank you for the last time. He wanted to thank her for watching over him for so many years. Shigeki thus releases his wife. This also means that Shigeki himself is freed. Machiko understands this principle of nature. In her case, she’s not elderly, so with this understanding, she begins to walk forwards. It’s the moment when she commits herself to the future. This will not necessarily resolve her sense of loss, as loss is something that can’t be reconciled easily, but the moment will help provide her with the key to understanding, release and hope.” Naomi Kawase.
Naomi Kawase was born in 1969. In 2003, her third long feature film, Sharais selected at the Official Competition in Cannes. In 2006, Naomi Kawase directed a documentary about her pregnancy and childbirth.