Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi • 2014 • Japan
Starring Toru Shinagawa, Takako Tokiwa, Yumi Adachi

In his follow-up to CASTING BLOSSOMS TO THE SKY, Nobuhiko Obayashi continues to explore themes of lost love, memory, war, and art. At 2:46 PM on March 11, 2013, Mitsuo Suzuki (Toru Shinagawa) takes his last breath at the ripe age of ninety-two. As the patriarch’s far-flung family gathers to make preparations for his passing, a mysterious and unknown woman (Takako Tokiwa) appears among them. Together, they begin to unravel the secret history of Mitsuo’s long life, including shocking tales of war in Sakhalin (an island in the Japanese archipelago that is now a part of Russia). Ruthlessly fragmenting scenes and setting a furious pace with one experimental technique following another, Obayashi’s breathless film breaks down the barriers between past and present, reality and illusion, and even self and other, all in order to create an emotionally profound experience of loss and hope.