"Life is defined not by what we receive but what we give" - Memories of Matsuko (Kiraware no Matsuko issho)
How do you cope when from the very beginning you are not favoured by your own father? Thus Matsuko's downtrodden and despairing tale of living is described in Nakashima Tetsuya's 2006 film. Forced to quit teaching due to a complicated mess of her student's stunt in a petty act of larceny, Matsuko breaks down from the pressure at home. Then followed by the more than an hour long description of the consequences of her downfall I can't help but psychoanalyze Matsuko's problem rooted from her father's indifference due to her younger and sickly sister. It's the typical elektra complex for the film setting. Lightened by the sudden insertions of musical variety (read: Feeling Good - Matt won't stop hounding us) that sprouted the infamous nursery rhyme of some sort from her childhood, the film both emphasizes and mellows the sincerity of the film's meaning. Matsuko who all she ever wanted was to ease her student's burden of stealing, to loving men not worthy of what she can offer and the family that turned their backs on her because of a sudden fall out with her sickly yet still devoted sister. And in between these are her unexpected (mis)adventures in a prison with an ex-convict now pornstar, a tenure at a massage parlour and her bouts of face twister which often leads her to more unintentional trouble.
Miki Nakatani seriously deserved the Best Actress award for breaking a strong and self fulfilled woman trying to expiate for the sins she did not deserve. She carried the whole film all throughout from the haunting scenes of bruises to the limited happiness brought by vicariousness. She was an unsuspecting circe and almost prodigal daughter that turned her world and the people in it sideways even after the unexpected but not far-flung excuse to end the film. The visual effects gave enough supplementary force to exude a poignant air from the snow covered grounds outside the prison, the odd animations that were aptly put to the forlorn orange of the dusk-reflected river where Matsuko let her memories flow away and where her nephew, years later found a new strength in life (with the comical exit of her ex-girlfriend joining the peace corps in Uzbekistan).
I adored the film to an extent that I am familiar with the unconventional Japanese way of delivering entertainment (read: anime and manga). I think as it is considered an Asian film it could fit better with Filipinos' sense of sympathy craving tendencies. With a running time of 130 minutes however, by the second half of the film it slowly crawled to a wearisome display of her ruined life; to a point, it gets predictable. It's a light film with a darker undertone; jaded and dog eared story that would pull on the strings of people's emotions.
And yes, Pinoys would dig this.
---
On the other side, I finally got my Liverpool scarf straight from London. David met up with me earlier and regaled me about the Parisian life and experiencing La Joconde 20 metres away. My allergy is eating me up it's getting pathetic. Remind myself to buy meds tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment