is a 2006 Japanese

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film starring

Ken Watanabe is a Japanese actor. To English-speaking audiences, he is known for playing tragic hero characters, such as General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in '' Letters from Iwo Jima'' and Lord Katsumoto Moritsugu in ''The Last Samurai'', for which he was nomi ...

, Higuchi Kanako and directed by

Yukihiko Tsutsumi is a Japanese television and film director. He began directing commercials and music promotion videos as an employee of Nihon Television. After spending time abroad, he returned and started his own production company, ''Office Crescendo'', from w ...

. The film is based on a novel of the same title published by

Hiroshi Ogiwara is a common masculine Japanese given name. It can also be transliterated as Hirosi. Possible writings Hiroshi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *浩, "meaning" *汎 *弘, *宏, *寛, *洋, *博, *博一, *博司, ...

in 2004.

Plot

The film begins by showing the inevitable outcome of the events of the film: the viewer is shown a scene of a man who is disabled by Alzheimer's disease, set in the year 2010. The story proper then begins by switching back to an earlier stage in the life of the man, Masayuki Saeki in 2004. Masayuki Saeki is a brilliant and successful

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

company executive. Saeki is shown to be a prime example of an ideal Japanese

white-collar worker A white-collar worker is a person who performs professional, desk, managerial, or administrative work. White-collar work may be performed in an office or other administrative setting. White-collar workers include job paths related to government, ...

. He is strict, well organized, hard working, devoted to his job, and sets very high standards for himself and his subordinates. However he is soon shocked to realize that he is failing to meet up to his perfect standards. He starts inexplicably forgetting things - appointments, details of his work, and his knowledge of the layout of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Following this he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, to which he reacts with great anger, disbelief and despair. What follows through the rest of the film is a tragic, emotional and very human portrayal of the suffering and the decline of this once powerful, soaring man to that of a pitiful state that resembles a second childhood as the disease wears him down. As the years pass, his memory worsens. He leaves work, and lives at home, where he is cared for by his devoted wife, Emiko. Inevitably, tensions surface between Masayuki and his wife and daughter, and it reaches the point where Emiko's life revolves around taking care of her debilitated husband.

Cast

- Masayuki Saeki * Kanako Higuchi - Emiko Saeki * Kenji Sakaguchi - Naoya Ito *

Kazue Fukiishi is a Japanese actress and former gravure idol. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 28th Yokohama Film Festival for '' What the Snow Brings'', ''Tegami'', and ''Memories of Tomorrow''. Career Fukiishi starred in Takuji Suzuki's ' ...

- Rie Saeki * Asami Mizukawa - Keiko Ikuno * Noritake Kinashi - Shigeyuki Kizaki *

Mitsuhiro Oikawa is a Japanese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and actor who is represented by the talent agency, Mother Enterprise. He graduated from Seijo Gakuen Junior High School and High School and Seijo University Faculty of Law. He is business partn ...

- Takehiro Yoshida * Eriko Watanabe - Kimiko Hamano *

Teruyuki Kagawa is a Japanese actor, kabuki actor and boxing commentator. Biography Born in 1965, his parents are the kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke III and the cinema actress Yuko Hama. His grandmother is the film actress Sanae Takasugi. In the Kabuki world, ...

- Atsushi Kawamura

Awards

The film received eight awards and four nominations from various sources.

External links

* Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi Films set in the 21st century Films about Alzheimer's disease Films scored by Michiru Ōshima 2000s Japanese films {{2000s-Japan-film-stub