Exclusive Interview with
Naomi Kawase
“The important thing is we should admit our differences, forgive each other, and built a true bond”
- What drew you to making Mogari No Mori ?
– One of the main motivators is that I found my grandma showing a symptom of dementia. My grandmother has been a big part of my life since my parents were separated before my birth. And I felt a fear that if my grandma should go away, I would disappear from this world as well. At that time, I had the experienced a of child-birth and raising a child. While learning a the role of mother from this experience, the experience of handing down to my child what I took over from my grandmother, I took life and death into consideration quite seriously.
– Does nature play an important part in your everyday life?
– It is very important. I receive joy of living from nature.
– Do you believe that nature’s beauty and harmony can have a therapeutic effect on human beings when they come to the final stage of their life or are going through serious existential difficulties, as you so superbly show in your film Mogari No Mori?
– I do believe it. Although we have a desire for eternity, I sense that it is not solely out of pity or misery about our mortality.
– What does the silence, which is so present in your film, represent for you?
– Silence gives me an opportunity to observe myself. And this kind of opportunity helps me understand and accept others, and eventually brings me happiness.
– Death and separation are omnipresent at the heart of Mogari No Mori and from this inevitable destiny emanate sweetness and hope. Are you a believer?
– Yes, I am. When I was fourteen, my adopted father passed away. His death brought me great sorrow but at the same time he gave me some sort of power, power to believe in invisible things, non-physical things. Now I have courage since I feel he always watches over me.
– Do you believe that at the time of our approaching death all of us will have to climb a mountain, whether that be a symbolic or a real one as it is in your film?
– I think it is real. It is quite scary and pretty sad. But I suppose that those who have climbed up will grasp the meaning of life including that of death, as well as the contented heart.
– Do you think that people in our civilizations today are sufficiently prepared for death?
– No, I do not. I think a number of people are preoccupied with the idea of avoiding the fear of death rather than preparing for it. However, or perhaps I should say, that is why a lot of people find entertainment in other people’s misfortunes.
– Is conjugal love connected to monogamy in your opinion?
– It would be admirable to have conjugal love with only one partner for life. However, it is not that easy in reality. I would like to depict its truth and ideal.
– Can age difference be a source of enrichment and play a constructive anti-violence role for the young?
– We gain a lot of experiences with age. Not all of such experiences are positive; however, we learn naturally through the everyday life about difficulties in life and also about how to conquer such difficulties. And there, we acquire tolerance, harmony and the like. Young people have some sort of tendency be destructive, and in this respect the elderly can give them some guidance and instructions to stop such destructive behavior. True affluence is not only physical but spiritual. And the elderly have a role to teach the younger generation about this.
– If your film were to be taught in academic institutions across the world, what would you most like them to learn?
– To admit and accept others. To have such a mind as to understand different cultures. Beyond the realization of true human connection, we can establish coexistence. It is important to overcome difficulties which we encounter along the way to reach such realization without giving up. And it should not be accomplished by rules; we need to know it could be done only through one’s own growth.
– Do you personally believe that the action of a single human being can make a difference in the world around her/him?
– Yes, I do. It is surely possible, though we cannot put a price tag on it. If you give a warm hand to somebody for nothing in return, he or she would be filled with gratitude. And such gratitude and warm feelings will surely affect others. Thus, it is not an exaggeration to say that it can change the world. However, it can go the other way. Coldness and violence give birth to another’s coldness and violence. And the world could turn out to be filled with grief and sorrow.
– What do you believe to be the greatest challenge for the present world and how do you see humanity dealing with the solution thereof?
– I think the greatest challenge is ‘forgiveness’. Here and there, people are trying to keep themselves away from their enemies, the enemies they create. However, the important thing is we should admit our differences, forgive each other, and build a true bond. In the contemporary world, people in rich countries can eat anything anytime and have a comfortable time inside a room on a scorching day in summer or freezing day in winter. Wherever you go, you can witness that the global homogenization is prevailing at a furious speed and destroying the original and the indigenous. Besides accepting others, we have to preserve and reproduce the original.