Miki Nakatani won Japanese Academy Award for her starring role in Tetsuya Nakashima’s MEMORIES OF MATSUKO
MEMORIES OF MATSUKO (KIRAWARE MATSUKO NO ISSHO) (Tetsuya Nakashima, 2006)
Japan Society
333 East 47th St. at First Ave.
Thursday, July 15, 6:15
www.japansociety.org/japancuts
www.subwaycinema.com
We called Tetsuya Nakashima’s 2005 hit, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, the “otaku version of Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s AMELIE,” referring to it as “fresh,” “frenetic,” “fast-paced,” and “very funny.” His following film, the stunningly gorgeous MEMORIES OF MATSUKO, also recalls AMELIE and all those other adjectives, albeit with much more sadness. Miki Nakatani stars as Matsuko, a sweet woman who spent her life just looking to be loved but instead found nothing but heartbreak, deception, and physical and emotional abuse. But MEMORIES OF MATSUKO is not a depressing melodrama, even if Nakashima incorporates touches of Douglas Sirk every now and again. The film is drenched in glorious Technicolor, often breaking out into bright and cheerful musical numbers straight out of a 1950s fantasy world. As the movie begins, Matsuko has been found murdered, and her long-estranged brother (Akira Emoto) has sent his son, Sho (Eita), who never knew she existed, to clean out her apartment. As Sho goes through the mess she left behind, the film flashes back to critical moments in Matsuko’s life — and he also meets some crazy characters in the present. It’s difficult rooting for the endearing Matsuko knowing what becomes of her, but Nakashima’s remarkable visual style will grab you and never let go. And like Audrey Tatou in AMELIE, Nakatani — who won a host of Japanese acting awards for her outstanding performance — is just a marvel to watch. The film was shown at the 2007 Japan Cuts festival and is being brought back this year by popular demand.