The Mourning Forest

"Am I alive?" The question is posed by Shigeki, an aging man staying in a nursing home. He lost his wife Mako 33 years ago, but she is still everything he can think of. The answer he gets is that living is not merely about eating and staying alive but also feeling alive.

Machiko has recently lost her little son. She starts working at the nursing home and a tacit friendship arises between these two who have suffered a loss. It is as if both have gone astray in their grief and distanced themselves from the outside world, but find each other inside the home.

The word "mogari", from the film’s original title, referes to the MogariForest, describing the time one is grieving, but also the place where it is done. The MourningForestis precisely a film about dealing with grief after a huge loss and, not least, how to live with it.

This is the fourth feature film from director and screenwriter Naomi Kawase. She was educated as a photographer and has previously made several documentaries, and this background is easily discernible in this film. Kawase conveys Shigeki’s and Machiko’s world using a subdued and lingering filmic language, where nature and the forest constantly envelop the action. The sound of the wind in the trees, the rain and the water in a brook creates a special atmosphere, intense and stagnant at the same time.

The MourningForestdepicts both a physical and mental journey, where Shigeki and Machiko help each other confront the unmanageable. The film was awarded the Grand Prix in Cannes, the festival’s most prestigious prize next to the Palme d’Or. rfa