Memories of Matsuko

Sho learns that an aunt he never knew has died and is given the job of clearing her flat. Matsuko died alone, overweight and unseen by anyone. He learns her life backwards: teaching, an accusation of theft, cabaret, abusive relationships, a murder, prison, hairdressing, and finally a flat on her own. The subject is not tragedy but where the need to be loved takes a person. Matsuko attaches herself each time to someone who treats her badly and each time believes it is love. The film shows her as neither a fool nor a victim, only as someone who never stops. The form delivers this heavy material through its exact opposite: bright colour, musical numbers, digital flowers and songs. Tetsuya Nakashima sets the pain inside a comic and musical form, and that contrast produces the whole effect. The source is a novel by Muneki Yamada. It was among the most discussed Japanese films of its year and Miki Nakatani was named best actress at the Japan Academy awards for the lead. Eita Nagayama and Yūsuke Iseya are in the cast. Who it is for: viewers who like formally daring Japanese cinema and films that break their own tone. Who it is not for: anyone wanting distance from scenes of abuse and violence; the bright surface does not soften them.