Trailer for Melancholy, a Japanese drama about grief
“It’s scary to be in denial.”
When you open a dictionary and look for the definition of melancholy, you find: state of vague sadness accompanied by reverie. Melancholy is similar to a depressive state and the absence of the will to live. This therefore does not bode well for the Japanese's second feature film. Takuya Kato (Grown Ups) which draws its international title from this definition. Melancholy features Watako played by Mugi Kadowaki (Aristocrats) who after the death of her lover discreetly returns to her married life, without telling anyone about this accident. But in this period of mourning and denial, the memories of this affair come back to her and the young woman fades into nothingness.
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“If you keep quiet, we’ll never get through this.” Surrounded by a husband who tries to have control over her, the conversation at the heart of the film never takes hold and everything is in restraint – both in the feelings, in the idea of hiding one's face, and in the sober, cold and elegant staging. How to express feelings in a society that is not very demonstrative like in Japan? How can this female character break away – because the original title of the film means “to unravel”, “to unravel” – of such a situation?
In the press release, the director poses his thoughts:
“When I imagined the character of Watako, I thought that the reason she showed such detachment was out of fear of being hurt. Opening the floodgates of feelings would mean for her having to face the depth from her injury. This is what she wants to protect herself from. The question that I wanted to address through this film is the question of responsibility, the fact of feeling concerned or not by the events that we have. lives.”
Starring Haru Kuroki, Shota Sometani and Kanji Furutachi, Melancholy will be released in cinemas in France on August 14.
