Mogari no mori (2007)

Director:

Naomi Kawase

Writer:

Naomi Kawase (writer)

Release Date:

23 June 2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A caregiver at a small retirement home takes one of her patients for drive to the country, but the two wind up stranded in a forest where they embark on an exhausting and enlightening two-day journey. |

Plot Keywords:

Retirement Home | Forest | Tree | Death | Old Man

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Yôichirô Saitô	...	Machiko's husband
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kanako Masuda	...	Mako
Machiko Ono	...	Machiko
Shigeki Uda	...	Shigeki
Makiko Watanabe	...	Wakako

Directed by
Naomi Kawase

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Naomi Kawase		writer

Produced by
Christian Baute	....	associate producer
Christian Baute	....	producer
Shunji Dodo	....	associate producer
Naomi Kawase	....	producer
Hengameh Panahi	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Masamichi Shigeno

Cinematography by
Hideyo Nakano

Film Editing by
Tina Baz
Yuji Oshige

Production Design by
Toshihiro Isomi

Art Direction by
Toshihiro Isomi

Makeup Department
Yuka Sumimoto	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Pascal Metge	....	post-production supervisor

Sound Department
Shigetake Ao	....	sound
Vincent Mauduit	....	sound re-recording mixer
Rin Takada	....	boom operator
David Vranken	....	supervising sound editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Masami Imura	....	gaffer

Production Companies

• Celluloid Dreams
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)
• Kumie
• Visual Arts College

Distributors

• CDI Films (2008) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Filmmuseum Distributie (2008) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Haut et Court (2007) (France) (theatrical)
• Kumie (2007) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Seven Films (2008) (Greece) (theatrical)
• NHK BS Hi-Vision (2007) (Japan) (TV)
• NHK (2007) (Japan) (TV) (original airing)
• Seven Films (2007) (Greece) (all media)

Other Companies

• Filmcraft  post-production facilities
• Kumie  advertising

Also Known As:

La forêt de Mogari (France)
The Forest of Mogari (International: English title) (literal title)
The Mourning Forest (International: English title) (festival title)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

France | Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | South Korea:All | Argentina:13 | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Nara, Japan

Company:

Celluloid Dreams

Hauntingly beautiful

I found The Mourning Forest a poetic and hauntingly beautiful meditation on death, old age, sadness and letting go. I haven't actively sought films that fit into the 'contemplative cinema' category at MIFF, but this is one of several I've seen so far.

The film is effectively a two-hander: Shigeki, an elderly and energetic resident of a retirement home, and Machiko, a young and inexperienced caregiver. The film focuses on their interactions and what happens when Machiko takes Shigeki for a drive on his birthday. While other characters assume fleeting roles, there is a recurring theme of death and mourning, a point that is reinforced by both the title and on-screen comments at film's end. While this may sound morbid, it is anything but.

The cinematography is stunning, capturing the beauty of wind-swept fields, overhead shots of finely-trimmed symmetrical arrays of hedges, and mountain forest scenery. There are long takes where nothing of much significance seems to transpire and yet the film remains completely engaging. The human drama is depicted as inexplicably linked to nature, a poetic theme that Japanese cinema sometimes conveys so effectively.

One slight negative: there was a little bit of unnecessary camera shake that distracted slightly. I saw The Mourning Forest when it screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival.