The Mourning Forest

A carer who has lost her child looks after an elderly man with dementia at a nursing home. He is searching for something belonging to his wife, dead for many years, and he searches for it in the forest. On a drive one day he slips away into the trees, she follows, and the two of them spend two days out there. Naomi Kawase does not specify what shape grief should take. There is no consolation here and no recovery, only two people walking while carrying their own loss. The forest is close to a third character, with sound, light and wind shifting constantly. The word mogari in the original title refers to the period of mourning or the place where mourning happens. The film won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2007. The difficulty is a very slow pace, sparse dialogue, and rituals left unexplained for viewers without the cultural background. When it took the prize, a number of Western critics were openly surprised. Who it is for: viewers who love quiet, meditative cinema. Who it is not for: anyone expecting narrative.