Memories of Tomorrow | Shohei Onishi (Dean, Graduate School of Health Management)
2008.02.08
Many of you probably remember this title. If so, I'm relieved.
Speaking of being moved to tears, I find myself crying much more often recently. You might call me sentimental, but I've become easily moved to tears. I often find myself strangely touched by trivial things, frequently wiping away tears with a handkerchief in public.
It was a movie from a little while ago, but I was truly moved to tears by "Memories of Tomorrow," starring Ken Watanabe in the lead role and Kanako Higuchi as his wife. Ken Watanabe plays a spirited, mid-career corporate manager who suddenly begins to experience symptoms of memory loss. His condition gradually worsens, and he is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. There is a powerful scene where he panics, unable to find his way to a familiar client's office. He calls an employee from his own company, tells them where he is, and frantically asks for directions to his destination. As his symptoms progress, he is forced to quit his job and live at home. There was a scene where he goes alone to a mountain village where he had practiced pottery in his youth, and various scenes from his past intertwine. Then, as he was returning from the mountain village, he greeted a woman he encountered. He had forgotten that she was his wife. The immense sadness of realizing how far his condition had progressed made me, I'm embarrassed to admit, cry out loud.
In fact, I myself once had an experience where, after getting off the subway at Otemachi Station and trying to go to the familiar Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, I looked around and suddenly had no idea where I was or how to get there. I ended up calling the secretary in my research office. It was the exact same scene as with Ken Watanabe's character.
The final scene, where Ken Watanabe's character—his memory fading, forgetting who he is and even the face of his beloved wife, his gaze no longer able to focus on her (played by Kanako Higuchi)—watches the sunset, was not so much moving as it was overwhelmingly sad and poignant. I cried and was unable to stand up for a while. I apologize for bringing up such a sad topic.
(Posted: 2008/02/08)