Possessing the sixth longest coastline in the world,
it's almost a matter of course for the Japanese to make
at least one journey to the shore in their lifetime
Journey to the Shore (Japan, 2015)
- Kiyoshi Kurosawa, director and co-scriptwriter (with Takashi Ujita)
- Starring: Eri Fukatsu, Tadanobu Asano
Perhaps in part because he shares the same surname as the highly esteemed Akira, Kiyoshi
Kurosawa's is one of the more recognisable names among contemporary
Japanese filmmakers. Unlike the great director who's most associated
with samurai films though, the later-born Kurosawa is best known as a
horror movie specialist -- and even though his latest offering is
primarily a drama, it's not entirely unexpected that there are
supernatural elements in it.
Journey to the Shore
begins on a mundane note, with Mizuki (Eri Fukatsu) tutoring a young
girl to play the piano. Later that day, three years after her husband
Yusuke (Tadanobu Asano) went missing, he unexpectedly re-appears in
their apartment to tell her he drowned at sea but there's no point going
to look for his body as it's been consumed by crabs. So yes, Yusuke is
actually now a ghost but he actually looks and behaves like a living
human being; so much so that seconds after his reappearance, Mizuki's
not only calmly inviting him to sample what she just cooked but also
asking him to remove the shoes he's got on!
Yusuke
tells Mizuki that since his demise, he's been thinking of various
people, living in different parts of the country, who were good to him
when he was alive -- and would like to go and see them one last time
before he forever leaves the realm of the living. Telling her that many
of the places where those people live are on the pleasant side, Yusuke
invites Mizuki to accompany him on his final journey on Earth, one which
will end at the seaside locale where he had decided to commit suicide
after being depressed (a state of mind he makes a point to tell his
beloved wife was not her fault).
After
she accepts his invitation, the couple begin their sojourn the next day
by taking a train to a sleepy town where they meet up with an elderly
newspaper deliveryman (Masao Komatsu) who Yusuke had previously worked
for. Implicitly, then, it gets established that Yusuke doesn't only
appear indistinguishable for the most part from other humans in the eyes
of Mizuki but other people as well; and this is something that becomes
not only part and parcel of this low-key film's particular universe but
also a point from which suspense emanates, since it's never immediately
clear whether any (or even all) of the people that Yusuke goes to visit
are dead (like him) or alive (like Mizuki)!
As this film adaptation of a Kazumi Yumoto
novel develops though, it comes to be realized that there is at least
one ghost around in every place that Yusuke and Mizuki go and spend at
least one night at. And to each of these dead beings (male or female,
young or old) is attached a story of regret, one which Yusuke and Mizuki
end up playing a part in resolving in some way or other.
Somewhat episodic in structure, there are some sections of Journey to the Shore
which work better and have more dramatic impact than others. The
understated movie's best moments (one of them involving cuttings of
paper flowers, another of which involves a haunting piece of music)
moved me to tears. Unfortunately, however, its weakest section came
near the end of the work. So it seemed that its filmmaker did the
opposite of saving the best for last -- something he perhaps should have
done.
My rating for this film: 7.0
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